Rich and Famous
by gacktsgal
Summary: REWRITE Sasuke's acting career is over when his brother decides he needs to see what a normal life is like. Naruto is forced to guide the celebrity he hates most around for at least a week. Neither expect the trials that come. Yaoi, swearing, violence, SasuNaru, tiny bit of SaiNaru.
1. Bad News and Bad News

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

**A/N: And here it is, the 'reboot' of Rich and Famous, alongside the FFVII fic. Wasn't initially sure, but it's been nudging at me all day during work, and even though I fell off the Naruto story wagon, Naruto characters will always have a soft spot in my heart. Especially Sasuke and Naruto love.**

**Warnings for the fic consist of:  
Yaoi  
Violence  
Sexual content  
Swearing**

**The Rich and Famous**

**Chapter 1: Bad News and Bad News**

Sasuke Uchiha sat in the back of the limo, his arm propped up against the window, completely ignoring the city of Los Angeles that passed by his window. Nothing he hasn't seen a thousand times now. He peered towards the front of the vehicle, towards the driver.

"Did my brother happen to mention what he wanted, to summon me so quickly after filming wrapped up?"

His driver—as if Sasuke bothered to remember his name—glanced at him through the rearview mirror. "He did not, Mr. Uchiha. My apologies. We will be at your manor shortly. About ten more minutes."

"Hn," he grunted. He didn't bother to point out he'd gone back and forth between the airport and the manor plenty of times before and knew the distance between the two. He settled into the seat, closing his eyes.

The limo finally pulled into the long driveway leading up to the secluded manor, and Sasuke waited for the driver to open his doors, drumming his fingers impatiently. When the door was finally opened for him, he glided out of the car and to the ornate front door. "Don't forget my luggage," he called out. "Leave it in my room."

The door opened as he walked up, Sasuke never missing a step and ignoring the few employees who bowed and welcomed him home. He padded his way up the carpeted stairs and shoved his way into his brother's study, where he knew he'd be.

Itachi Uchiha, a few years older than Sasuke, sat at his desk, which was covered in various papers and folders. He glanced up at Sasuke walked in and turned around to print something off the computer. "Sasuke, my dear little brother. Welcome home. How was Ireland?"

Sasuke ignored the warmness and shrugged. "Nothing special, it was just a filming location. Did you send that director my wishes to partake in his upcoming movie?"

Itachi faked a grimace, and Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "That's why I flew you in, to talk to you about that." Sasuke shrugged, feeling no ounce of disappointment. He didn't particularly care about that movie.

His brother waves a hand towards a cushioned seat. "Sit. I have some rather big news for you." He clasped his fingers together and leaned towards Sasuke.

Sasuke drilled a hole in his head with his eyes. "...yes?" he snapped. He was handed the recently printed off paper, and he saw it was a picture of a completely average house which appeared to be located in the middle of a city. "What is this supposed to be?"

"It's a house, Sasuke. I know you're so used to mansions but you really should know that."

"You're not funny. Answer me."

His brother grinned, and attempted to look serious when Sasuke didn't crack a smile. "That's where we're moving."

For once, Sasuke was stunned into silence, then managed to find his voice. "Excuse me?"

"That's where we're going to be moving, Sasuke. In two weeks."

"And why the fuck will we be doing that?"

"Sasuke," his brother stood up. "How old were you when you broke into the acting career?"

"Eight... This has to do with what, exactly?"

"This has been bothering me for a long time now, little brother. Our parents died when you were seven. We're the only family we have. You never really got the proper chance to mourn, you don't have any actual friends, we live a completely fake life in which we never really talk, you never got the chance to really grow up normal. I want to try to change all of that."

Sasuke just stared at his brother after that attempted speech. Part of him remembered early days, when him and Itachi wrestled with each other and Itachi would often play jokes on him, to Sasuke's delight. When the two brothers would wake up extra early to help mom make breakfast, sneaking morsels when they thought she wasn't looking. Those days were long gone.

"Have you even thought this through?" he asked.

Itachi furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

Sasuke just stared at his brother, changing his mind on what he was about to say. His brother seemed resolute, regardless. Instead, he said, "What about the press?"

"Already got a fake story." Itachi smiled. Sasuke heaved a sigh. "Another thing. I arranged for you to do your senior year at a school called Konoha High. The principal there is named Tsunade. After I told her some of my concerns, we decided to get another student to show you the ropes."

"You arranged a play date for me?"

"No, Sasuke, a guide. He'll also be helping the school...get used to you."

"He's going to be the guy beating the girls away from me with a stick?"

"Of sorts," Itachi chuckled. He searched the top of the desk and handed Sasuke a picture. "So you'll recognize him."

Sasuke took the picture. It was a pretty terrible one, to be honest. This oh-so-wonderful guide having the name of Naruto Uzumaki, and he was trying to pull off a funny face but only succeeded in looking like a dumbass. It appeared to be last year's Yearbook picture.

"He looks like a dumbass."

"I'm sure he'll be great!"

"NARUTO, FUCKING STOP BRINGING RAMEN IN THE CAR I TOLD YOU THIS A THOUSAND FUCKING FUCKITY TIMES," Kiba yelled.

Naruto looked at his best friend from where he was sitting in the passenger's seat, fork halfway up to his mouth. "Fucking fuckity?"

"Shut up. Dump it out of the window, I'm not having you spill anything in my car again! Unless you want to pay for the cleaning."

"This is the last time, I promise! I woke up too late to eat at home."

"You said that last week."

"Just shut up and drive to school. I swear I won't spill anything."

He ended up spilling some on the tire as he hurried out of the car and towards the school to start their second day of senior year. Kiba glowered at him, and Naruto smiled at him sheepishly. "Seriously, I swear no more ramen in the car!"

"No food, period."

"Not even something like Poptarts?"

"Sometimes I want to strangle you."

"You love me too much."

The two took their time heading to English class, even though the final bell had rang a few minutes ago. The perks of having a teacher who was often very late himself. The two heard the animated girly chatter and the TV the moment they slipped through the door. A group of girls had gathered to watch the TV mounted on the wall, and once again Naruto felt elated when he saw the short pink-haired girl among them. This was definitely going to be the year he asked Sakura out.

"What's going on?" Kiba asked as the two placed themselves in desks next to their other two best friends, Gaara and Shikamaru. "Please tell me they finally invented hover cars." He frowned when the group hushed him, even though the TV was just showing commercials right now.

The program came back on finally, and Naruto groaned out loud when it was some interview with one of the most famous Hollywood celebrities, Sasuke Uchiha. "And we're back!" the female reporter said. "And I have today Sasuke Uchiha, who just finished filming his new movie, Ninja Stars!" The girls in the classroom clapped.

"He can't hear you," Naruto muttered, his eyes on Sakura, who was also mooning over the not-that-hot-and-was-totally-a-fucking-jackass star.

Even the reporter seemed way overly excited, as when she asked Sasuke about his female co-star and pointed the mic in his direction, she almost shoved it up a nostril.

Sasuke leaned back, not trying to hide his scowl and annoyance, and pushed the mic away from his face a tad. The reporter gave him a sheepish grin as Sasuke answered. "She was just kind of typical, really. Talked a lot."

A gorgeous girl with long blonde hair who was also Sakura's best friend jumped up and down. "He likes typical girls!" Naruto didn't bother covering his snort, they couldn't hear him anyway.

"Fascinating!" the reporter kiss-assed. "What can you tell us about the movie premiere next month?"

Sasuke seemed to study the reporter for a split second and then appeared to look at someone behind the camera. The star nodded, and faced the reporter. "I won't be there, my co star will give details about the premiere. My career is being put on hold while I go to England."

The reporter gaped at him, while meanwhile the girls in Konoha's English classroom were going ballistic. She seemed to lose herself again and almost shoved the microphone up his nose a second time. "Can you give the details on that?" she asked eagerly.

The bratty star rippe the mic from her grasp, growled a 'no,' and tossed the mic to the ground and stalked off. Naruto appeared to be the only one who saw the guy for the jackass he was, as all of the girls were in hysterics at the news. The guys really just didn't a shit.

The intercom of the classroom interrupted the freak out session, and the girls calmed down enough so the intercom could repeat whatever was said. "Naruto Uzumaki, we would like to see you in the Principal Tsunade's office, please." It was Shizune, the old hag's secretary.

Kiba and Gaara gave him the what-the-hell-did-you-get-up-to-the-second-day-of-classes? look. Yes, it had a look. Naruto shrugged and stood up, honestly confused himself. She was probably calling him down there to warn him away from doing any shenanigans this year.

He made his way down the halls and to the main office, his hands casually shoved in his pockets. "Hey Shizune!" he greeted. "What's up?"

The girl sat behind the office desk and gave Naruto a cheery smile. "Hi Naruto! How was your summer?"

"It was okay, really. Didn't do anything exciting, picked up a part-time job at the cafe across the street from my apartment."

"That place serves some great bagels. Anyway, thanks for coming down, Tsunade is in her office waiting for you."

Naruto thanked her, striding into the Principal's office, closing the door behind him. "Hey gran-gran," he greeted the busty blonde woman behind the desk, sitting in a chair and propping his feet up on his desk.

"One of these days people are going to see your face on the side of a milk carton," she warned. "And get your disgusting shoes off of my desk. How are you doing, brat?"

"The usual. Why am I here? I haven't even done anything!"

"Yet?" she added, quirking an eyebrow.

"Maybe."

Tsunade sighed, giving his feet a rough shove off of her desk. "Naruto, it's your last year in High School. Hopefully it's your last year, anyway." She pinched the sides of her nose. "You need to start behaving more responsibly and planning for the future."

"I'm fine in my apartment. I got a part-time job at Bagels and Bagels to help."

"Selling bagels to customers isn't a future. I mean, it could be, Naruto, but do you honestly want to do that with your life?"

"We also sell muffins."

"Naruto!" she snipped.

"Gaaah, gran," he whined. "How am I supposed to know what I want to do with the rest of my life? I don't even really need to," he muttered.

Tsunade just sighed. "Okay Naruto. This can be a talk for later. Yes, later," she cut him off. "I called you here for a different reason. We're getting a new student on Monday, and I thought it'd be nice to offer you to help him around."

Naruto gave her a flat look. "Is he, like, blind or something? Should really just get one of those cool dogs to help with that."

"No, he has no impairments. He's just going to have a bit of hard time...ah...acclimating, as you will. He's had a private tutor since he was eight, so I'm sure he'll be unsteady in a public school, in a completely new city, with no one around but his brother."

"He's a big boy, I'm sure. Still not seeing why you need me to help out a snobby rich kid."

"It'll be a completely new lifestyle for him, and you'll only need to help in the short-term. He's also a tad famous, which is why I think it will be helpful to have you around in the halls, calming things down."

Naruto paused. "A celeb is enrolling in our school?" he asked, shocked. This was kind of cool! "I'll totally get some chicks noticing me, being all buddy-buddy with a celeb." Preferably a specific, pink-haired chick.

Tsunade nodded, grinning in a way that made Naruto nervous. "Great! You'll be sharing a few classes together, and you'll both have permission to leave a few minutes early to show him to his other classes. Sasuke Uchiha will be gracious, I'm sure."

That took a while to sink in, and it was obvious Tsunade found it a tad funny. Naruto sat there, gaping at her, trying to process the name she just gave him. Finally, he flew from his seat and slammed his hands down on her desk. "No!" he shouted.

The old hag straightened up and gave the student her best serious-business face. "You don't have a say in this situation, Mr. Uzumaki. I'm informing you of what will be happening as of Monday, not asking you."

"You didn't just call me Mr. Uzumaki."

"Yeah, that felt pretty weird." And it was, Naruto thought. He never really had parents, and oddly enough, he kind of sort of maybe considered her a mom to him. Or maybe a grandma. Or great grandma.

"Tsunade, you know I hate that guy. He's totally insufferable."

"Well, you haven't even met him in person, only what he shows cameras. Maybe he'll surprise you." Naruto scoffed. "Besides, to be completely honest, I think it'd be best for Mr. Uchiha to have someone around who doesn't fawn over him."

Naruto really didn't care what was or wasn't best for 'Mr. Uchiha.' "Are you sure you're not asking me? Because you totally just ruined my good mood for the near future now."

Tsunade grinned. "You'll live, brat."


	2. Announcements and Petting

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

A/N: And the second chapter of the new and improved Rich and Famous! Sorry for week-long delay, I've been busy with other things, among getting hit with plot bunnies for this fic. Which will add quite a bit more story to it, but I'm not saying much else.

Hoping to update more, I'm trying my hand at Camp NaNoWriMo in April, so I'm slowing down my writing on my original novel until that time. So, that leaves more time for this one. Until next time...

Chapter 2: Announcements and Petting

* * *

Naruto held Sasuke Uchiha's schedule in a tight grip as he walked through the halls back to his English class, which had fifteen minutes left before the bell. Tsunade gave him a note, so he wasn't worried about Kakashi getting on to him about being absent. Then again, it was Kakashi, he probably didn't need to have a note in the first place.

He shared four classes with the bastard; English, Art, Health, and Gym. He snorted in amusement to see that the actor was going to have a cooking class. Maybe Naruto should buy him a nice pink 'Welcome to Konoha High!' apron as a gift.

As he finally neared his first period classroom, he folded up the schedule and slipped the door. His teacher, a man who appeared to be in his early 30's and had messy silver locks and wore a mask over the bottom half of his face for whatever goddamn reason, barely looked up at Naruto. Naruto tried to offer up the note but Kakashi merely waved him on by, keeping his nose shoved in a book he was reading.

The class was casually chatting away and Kiba leaned over to Naruto when he took his seat. "Dude, what the hell was that about? What'd ya do?"

Naruto hesitated only briefly. The announcement of the new classmate would be announced later in the day, with the hopes that students don't bring the press' attention to the school. But still, it was a bit embarrassing to admit what he got roped into doing. So instead he just handed Kiba the schedule.

Kiba skimmed over the schedule, frowning. "So what, they gave you a new schedule? What for?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, but I'd take cooking over the reality. Look at the student's name."

His best friend furrowed his brow in confusion, and Naruto resisted the urge to hide his face in his arms. And then Kiba let out a loud guffaw, which went unnoticed in the already-noisy classroom by everyone but Gaara and Shikamaru, who peered at them curiously.

"This is a joke, right? What is this shit?"

"I wish it was a joke," Naruto muttered. Kiba noticed the questioning glances from their other two friends and handed them the schedule.

Shikamaru let out a snort while Gaara surprised them by having his red eyebrows fly up in surprise. "Details," the latter commanded.

Naruto scooted his desk nearer to theirs and the other three took the hint, scooting closer and leaning into the middle of the four desks. "Okay, from what Principal Gran told me, that whole England thing is a ruse for the press while the asshole is moved to Konoha so he can lay low and try to live a normal life." When he got to the last bit, Naruto gave his friends a wry smile to show what he thought of the idea. "And for some reason Tsunade thought I was the perfect candidate to show our dear Uchiass around."

Kiba burst into a fit of giggles at the whole situation, and Naruto gave a growl and smacked his best friend across the back of the head. "Ow! You have to admit it's funny, man!"

"Not for me!"

"What isn't funny?" a female voice intervened. Naruto turned his head to see Sakura there, and he did his best to keep the heat from his face.

"Nothing that you'd find interesting!" he blurted. Liar. "What's up, Sakura?"

His crush gave a casual shrug. "I was getting bored and saw you guys looking all conspiratorial and I was curious." She glanced at Sasuke's schedule, tilting her head slightly, and Naruto tried to subtly angle it away from her line of sight.

He was saved by answering further by the bell, and Naruto swore to himself he'd ask her out soon as he made his way to his next class, which was Math. In class before the final bell rang, he killed time doodling a fox on a scrap sheet of paper when someone felt the need to sit their ass on top of his masterpiece. He glared up at the person to see another apparently new student, one with short black hair and pale skin.

"Can I help you?" Naruto muttered.

The student flashed him a smile. "I am Sai," he said. "I just moved here."

Naruto wasn't quite sure what to say to that. After a second or so, he gave the boy a grin and said, "Welcome to Konoha High, then. Do you mind, though?" He didn't care all that much about the drawing, he was just doing it to kill time, but it still annoyed him.

Sai blinked and hopped off the table, instead moving into the seat next to Naruto's. "I noticed you drawing," he admitted. "I enjoy art as well, so I came over. Though mine is better than yours."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the boy. "I was just killing time doodling stuff, dude. This isn't some serious piece."

"Are you serious about drawing in general, then?"

"No."

Sai looked relieved. "That's good."

A pang of annoyance hit Naruto and before he could lash out and ask the boy exactly he meant by that, the bell rang. Sai gave him another smile before settling back in his chair and giving the Math teacher—Yamato—his full attention. Naruto did the same after glaring at him for a moment, huffing. Annoying he may already be, this new kid was still much better than Sasuke.

After a long, horrendously dull class, the bell finally rang. It interrupted Yamato mid-lecture and the teacher looked bummed out when the class scrambled up and out of the classroom without further ado.

Just when Naruto left the classroom, he felt another presence walking next to him. He shifted his backpack and did his best to ignore the other person, which he knew to be the new kid, Sai.

"Hello again, Naruto!" the kid greeted, sounding quite cheery. Naruto sighed.

"Need something, Sai?"

Naruto pursed his lips as an arm was thrown around his shoulders. "We're friends now. Friends just hang out between classes."

"Friends do, yes, but I just met you. Not even an hour ago." Sai just kept smiling. "All you did was insult my doodling."

Sai's smile slid into a smirk. "You said it was just something to pass the time and that you had no aspirations to a career in art. Besides, even if you did, criticism is a good thing, Naruto."

Naruto was aware he was being grumpy over nothing, more or less, especially over just stupid doodle of a fox he didn't even care about. Just the upcoming Sasuke thing put him in a bad mood. "I wouldn't really call what you said criticism."

The other boy gave a low laugh and slid his arm off Naruto's shoulder, but only after trailing a finger through the messy blond hair. Naruto wasn't quite sure what to say, but Sai responded before he had the chance to. "True enough. I apologize then. I must get in class—" here he jerked his head over to the classroom they stopped in front of, "—but as an apology, if you ever do find yourself interested in drawing, I'm happy to help. Can I find you at lunch?"

Naruto found himself giving the new kid a real smile. After his initial first impression, he wasn't so bad. Maybe a new addition to the group? "Yeah, sure, man. The table's near the glass wall on the far left, I sit with Kiba, Shikamaru, and Gaara."

"See you, then, Naruto." The two nodded to each other and Naruto left Sai to head to his next class, which was Art. Yes, Sai was definitely better than Sasuke.

That hair thing was still weird, though.

* * *

After a perversion-filled Art class with Genma, another dull History class with Kurenai, Sasuke's Monday arrival was announced over the intercom during his fifth class, Health, right before lunch. The teacher, Jiraiya, who was also Naruto's guardian, was in the middle of telling the class about an erotica novel he was writing.

"Attention students and faculty of Konoha High. This announcement is important."

Naruto knew what it was the moment Tsunade got on the intercom. He slouched in his seat, grumbling, while Kiba and Shikamaru snickered at him. Gaara just sat with his arms crossed while staring straight forward. The redhead never showed much emotion, but Naruto was sure he was snickering as well, only inside his head.

"On Monday, a new addition to our student body will be arriving. His person is well-known, and we ask that the students of Konoha High treat him with respect and—most importantly—keep their traps shut. We do not want the press, he does not want the press."

The students were whispering to each other, getting excited. Naruto slunk down further and Jiraiya noticed and gave him an odd look.

"Everyone believes he went to Europe, and we'd like to keep it that way. Sasuke Uchiha is seeking to experience a low-key lifestyle—" and the rest was interrupted by Sakura and Ino jumping up and shrieking at the top of their lungs at the same time Naruto snorted at the 'low-key lifestyle' shit. The rest of the class started freaking out soon after, and Jiraiya looked like he ate something sour.

He was elbowed in the side by Kiba, and Naruto glanced over at his friend and glared. "The fun begins," he laughed.

At lunch, the whole room was filled with excitement about the imminent arrival of Sasuke whoop-dee-fucking-doo Uchiha, while Naruto stabbed at his green beans. Every so often he'd look up and watch Sakura talking with her girl friends, of which he assumed were talking about make up going by the gestures to various facial parts. His view was blocked by the sudden arrival of Sai.

"Who the hell are you?" Kiba demanded. Shikamaru slept. Gaara just watched.

"Guys, this is Sai, he's a new student, we chatted a bit in Art today." He grinned at the pale boy, who gave him a wink, which only caused the blond to blush. Thankfully no one noticed.

"Dude, nice to meet you then, I'm Kiba Inazuka." The two shook hands, and Sai looked over expectantly at the other two.

Shikamaru sighed. "I'm Shikamaru."

Kiba jumped back in. "And this is Gaara. He's not all that chatty, but he's cool. Shika isn't talkative either, but he's just a lazy fuck."

Sai laughed. "I'm glad to have found a group of good people already. I look forward to getting to know you guys." He glanced over to Naruto, who was oblivious. Kiba raised an eyebrow, however.

"Naruto," the new boy said, and Naruto focused once more. "I hope you're not too stressed over the Sasuke thing, but I'm sure your friends will help you vent."

Naruto shifted, and gave the boy an odd look. "Why do you say that bastard would stress me out?"

Sai raised an eyebrow. "Besides what you said just now? Some girls in my class were talking about him after the announcement, and your name was brought up. About how you hate him and how they were worried you would start something."

He just shrugged in response. "I do hate him, yeah, but I'd very happily ignore him." Too bad he couldn't. He sighed.

Before Sai could ask, Kiba snickered and said, "Our dolt over here has been assigned to be Sasuke's little guardian or some shit for a while, until the excitement dies down."

Naruto whined and let his head bang down on the table while Sai laughed. He felt a hand give a gentle pet to his hair, and unless Kiba suddenly took up that habit, Naruto was willing to bet it was Sai again. What was with this dude and hair?

"Touchy fellow, aren't you?" he heard Kiba ask, plainly amused by pretty much everything going on right now.

"Comfort comes through touches," was the response, which Naruto guessed he wasn't wrong about. Still weird, though. The lunch bell rang, signaling everyone to get back to their class, and the group dragged their way back to Health while Sai went wherever he was.

* * *

School was finally over for Naruto and Kiba. There was still seventh period, but theirs was free so they left. Naruto found that Sai shared Gym with him as well, and after getting into Kiba's car, he programmed the boy's number into his phone.

Kiba glanced over at the screen and turned the car on, backing out of the space. "What do you think of him?"

"He has some quirks, but he seems to be a cool guy."

"Yeah, dude's chill. Do you get any gay vibes from him?"

Naruto bit his lip, trying to think back on the day to see if any stood out. "Not really, he just seems awkward sometimes. Why, do you?"

"I just got the impression he was into you." At this he waggled his eyebrows at his friend, who gave out a loud snort.

"What's not to love? I'm irresistible."

"You poor delusional suck— OW!"

After getting out of the car at his apartment and giving the dog loving best friend a goodbye salute, Naruto made his way into the complex's elevator, going up a floor. He found his door already unlocked, and sighed as he opened it to find Jiraiya lounging on his couch watching TV. While he was his guardian, he gave Naruto the luxury of his own apartment a few months ago, while Jiraiya himself lived in another room upstairs.

"What do ya want, perv?" he asked, tossing his backpack on the couch next to his guardian.

"Just checking up on ya, brat."

"You saw me a few hours ago. You're getting kind of clingy."

The white-haired man gave the boy a punch in the arm and scowled. "Nah, I just imagined you'd be annoyed after that announcement. First thing I thought was, fuck, Naruto's going to have be ecstatic with this!"

"You didn't know? Tsunade called me down to tell me about it while I was in English."

"No, most of the faculty found out during fifth—" Jiraiya paused for a moment, squinted. "Wait, why were you called down? Was she worried you'd set his hair on fire?"

Naruto guffawed. "No, but thanks for the tip. I have been assigned as Sasuke's official guard boy guide thing."

Jiraiya stared for a moment, unsure of how to respond. "Whose idea was it?"

"What do you mean? It could only be her's, right?"

"No, I meant—yeah you're right. Dumb question." He reached over and gave the boy who he considered a son a hard clap on the shoulder. "You're in for a fun school year then, huh?"

Sadly.

* * *

**Hope this chapter was fine, it was fun to write. I just heart Sai. Our two favorite boys meet next chapter. :) Also, yes, perverted!Genma is _FastForward's_ Genma. If you haven't read any of her work, what are you waiting for? It's amazing. Check out _Roommates_. **


	3. Holy Flying Meatballs

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Sadly.**

**A/N: Here we go! This was another fun one to write, and I'm actually glad I'm rewriting this fiction. Dinner scene was a lot more entertaining than what it first was (if I remember correctly, it was initially a paragraph or two long and nothing happened.)**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Holy Flying Meatballs**

It was Friday, the third day of the new school year, and the last Sasuke-less day this school had, and Naruto was already sick of hearing the guy's name. It was all he heard the entire day; students drooling over his looks, his money, or the cool factor that would come with befriending him, while teachers just yammered on about treating him like anyone else and to not bring the press to the school. At this rate, Naruto was going to greet the actor with a right hook in the nose.

"I wonder if he has a big penis."

The other four boys stopped their lunch room banter and just gawked at Sai, who seemed completely unaware of the reactions he caused.

Kiba managed to clear his throat. "Uh, dude. Something you want to tell us? Because if you're a closet Sasuke super fan, you can sit your ass somewhere else."

The pale boy finally seemed to notice the very weird looks he was receiving. "No, I don't particularly care about Uchiha, but quite a few do, so I was wondering if he had a big penis." Naruto was having trouble following Sai's train of thought, and their eyes met. "Do you?"

The blond narrowed his eyes dangerously, while Kiba snickered, and Shikamaru and Gaara were smirking in amusement. "Do I what?"

"Have a big p—" Naruto shoved a tater tot in the boy's mouth to shut him up, who was flashed a sultry smile.

"I'm really starting to doubt the wisdom of bringing you into the group. You're kind of weird and immature." He ignored the fact that Kiba was trying to get a spoon to stay on his nose as he said that.

Shikamaru heaved a sigh. "Anyway, let's stop talking about Sasuke and penises. We still going over to your place for the night, Naruto?"

"Yeah, you can come over at any time, I won't be working on homework until Sunday night." He noticed that Sai had perked up, and sighed softly. "You coming, Sai?"

"Of course, it'll be a blast!"

One of the Art teachers, Genma, bounced up suddenly. "Can I come?!"

"No," responded five voices in unison.

* * *

It was late Friday night. Naruto was sprawled out on his bed with Sai, whose legs were stretched out over the blond's stomach. Kiba and Shikamaru reclined together in a large chair, and Gaara sat against a wall. All five were devouring pizza, breadsticks, and soda that were delivered.

"Whiskers," Sai said, nudging Naruto with a foot. He had taken it upon himself to give nicknames to the group, Naruto's coming from the three mysterious scars on each cheek that resembled whiskers. Gaara had given him a look from hell when he was called Grumpy, but Sai was oblivious.

"Okay, okay," Naruto muttered. "Uhhh...would you rather eat three spoonfuls of wasabi throughout the day or spend the afternoon with Gai?"

The room was filled with snorts and shudders and the unanimous declaration of wasabi. Sai hummed to himself, next. "Would you rather groom Lee's eyebrows or look at Naruto's artwork for an hour?" No one had the chance to respond before Sai's legs were thrown off Naruto's stomach and the latter shoved him off the bed. Sai grabbed onto Naruto's shirt, however, and both fell to the floor, Sai under Naruto.

"You didn't need to grab me!" he huffed, and Sai merely smiled and rested a hand on Naruto's chest. He jerked up and off the boy, blushing, while Kiba hooted with laughter and Shikamaru studied the two, Naruto especially. Naruto settled back on the bed, grumbling. His heart had skipped slightly, but that was just from the surprise of Sai's actions. He was still getting used to the weirdo.

"So Naruto," Shikamaru u started, "what happens Monday, exactly?" The rest of the boys looked over in interest.

"Ehmm," he huffed. "I have to leave early, but Jiraiya will be taking me, so you don't have to get up early, Kiba." The brunette looked relieved. "Meet the asshole and his brother, and I show him around the school. I have to leave a few minutes early each class to meet him at his so I can take him to his next one. And all that while dodging fans."

"You should wear a suit and sunglasses and like, a baton or something. Look all imposing," Kiba snickered.

"I wonder if Sakura likes a man in a suit." He sighed wistfully, while the others rolled their eyes. While he and pink-haired beauty got along pretty well, she still crushed on the celebrity. Soon she'd find out what an ass he really was and would realize Naruto was the perfect match for her.

One by one, the boys dozed off. Sai had gotten back up on the bed and was dozing on the other side of it, and Naruto was amused to see that Gaara appeared to be comfortable on the floor using a stuffed bear as a pillow. Soon enough, sleep took hold of him as well.

* * *

It was early. Way. Too. Fucking. Early. Naruto could see that the sun was up through the window blinds, and he wondered why he was awake when he obviously still had some sleeping he wanted to do. The others were still sleeping except for Kiba, who had grabbed a pillow and had it pressed over his head. Naruto was about to ask when the beeping of a vehicle backing up clawed through his ears, and he groaned.

He heard the squeal of tires, men talking loudly to each other, doors slamming, more beeping, and Naruto got pissed. He stumbled off the bed and over to his window, reaching a hand under his shirt to scratch at his stomach. His bedroom window looked out over the vacant house next door, except now there were cars and moving truck in the driveway. Couldn't they have done this at a later damn time on a Saturday morning?

Naruto growled to himself, pissed off he was woken during the weekend where he had some remaining peace left before he had to spend time with an asshole he really hated. Without thinking of much beyond needing to vent at someone, he left his apartment, practically running down the stairs to the main floor, and out of the building.

He briskly walked over to the house next door, barely noticing the cool grass on his bare feet. There were around six men working, heading in and outside the house through the front door that was propped open by a brick. For whatever reason, the atmosphere was tense, and Naruto tried stuffing his hands in his pockets before realizing he stormed out in his dark blue boxers. Well then.

Shoving the embarrassment to the side for a while, he got closer to the house's driveway, heading for one of the men behind a stack of boxes he was carrying that was going down the truck ramp. There came a thump from inside the house, and the man's fingers clenched over the boxes as he snapped, "Would you kindly mind not dropping my shit?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he stepped in front of the guy, careful not to get boxes dropped on him. "And would you kindly mind waiting until a decent hour until you make all this goddamn noise?"

A loud, very annoyed sigh came from behind the boxes, and despite his previous words, he dropped the boxes to the ground none too gently. "It's ten o'clock in the morning you dumbass."

Naruto was about to hurl an insult right back when he froze, mouth gaping open. Sasuke Uchiha stood next to him, looking very pissed off as he leaned a bit on the stack of boxes he had been carrying. Sasuke just glared at the blond, daring the idiot to start freaking out, but then recognition finally hit him.

Before either of them could say anything, another man strolled out, looking very much like an older Sasuke but with longer hair that was tied back. "Are the boxes with my books still in...," he stopped, spotting Naruto, and tilted his head to the side in confusion, "Naruto Uzumaki?"

"Uchihas," he grumbled, now very much aware of his state of undress. He could tell the other two noticed, going by the bastard's smirk and the older brother's confused stare. He shifted his weight self-consciously.

"Were you so excited to meet me before Monday you followed me to our new house while forgetting to put pants on?" he said, voice dripping mockery, and Naruto felt his face grow hot.

"No, you conceited ass, I live in the apartment next door and you woke me up."

Sasuke said nothing at all, just kept looking at the tanned male in disdain. Sensing the tension, Itachi clapped his hands together, grabbing their attention. "It's convenient you live so close, Mr. Uzumaki." They ignored the smaller raven's snort. "I'm Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke's older brother and guardian. We'd love to get to know you—"

"Speak for yourself."

"—but we're still in the midst of the fun that is moving everything in and unpacking. Would you like to join us for dinner tonight?"

Naruto looked at the older one warily, and decided he wasn't so bad. It was the younger that had a very thorny pole stuck up his ass. That invitation was still a 'hell no' however. "Just call me Naruto, and, eh, no thanks. I'm very swamped with homework this weekend." He didn't need to know he had very little of it.

"After the first three days of school?"

He nodded slowly, feeling the man's piercing gaze going through him. "Uh-huh." Itachi's eyes slid elsewhere to look at something behind Naruto, and he turned to see Sai waving from Naruto's bedroom window.

"Hello!" he called down to the three of them, and Sasuke rolled his eyes and none of them responded. This didn't daunt Sai. "How big is your penis, Mr. Sasuke?" he kept yelling.

Naruto felt a surge of smugness at the irritated look on Sasuke's face, while Itachi went back to looking confused. "Naruto, then. Do you know who that is, by any chance?"

The blond started to head back to the apartment building before any more dinner invitation pressure was sent his way, giving Sasuke one last look of loathing, which was returned with a sneer. "Not a clue," he called back, jogging away.

He stormed through the apartment building and back up to the second floor, unaware that he was muttering angrily to himself. Once he paused to spontaneously kick a walk, much to his regret. After being attacked by Ms. Lind's stupidass chihuahua, he finally made it back to his own apartment, slamming the door as he entered.

Kiba and Shikamaru were grimacing in sympathy at him, Gaara was glaring at the noise he was making, and Sai was still at the window watching the men work, occasionally yelling something down. Which went ignored. He really didn't need Sasuke and Sai having a yelled conversation about dick sizes between buildings.

"Dude," Kiba said, "you're in your boxers."

Naruto opted to stomp over to the window and tug Sai away from it, closing his bedroom door, and then flopped down on the living room couch. "I know, realized that way too late. I'm sure they had a great time laughing about that one. His brother actually isn't so bad, but that stupid bastard..ugh. Complete superiority complex."

"What'd you say to each other?"

"Princess Sasuke was all pissy and sneer-y at me, accused me of stalking him. Pah! His brother's name is Itachi, he invited me over to dinner. Of course I said no and booked it out of there."

"You should go," Shikamaru said, and Kiba and Naruto looked at him in surprise. "I mean, you're going to spend a lot of time with the Uchiha regardless, it'd be best to get on decent terms, or at least over the feelings of wanting to gut each other, sooner rather than later."

"No way in hell!" Naruto said. "I don't have to be his little guard dog that long at school, maybe two weeks, and I can just ignore the fact that he's my neighbor."

"Troublesome," he tsked, but the discussion was over for now. Naruto already had too much of Sasuke for one day, and it wasn't even noon. The group spent the rest of the day playing on the PS3 and eating leftover pizza.

Around five o'clock or so Sai had snuck over and into Naruto's bedroom and was looking at the house again. "The movers are gone!" he announced.

"Good," Naruto grunted. "They were loud and obnoxious."

"Sounds like you," Kiba pointed out.

"That's you, doggy boy," Naruto punched him.

"Hey!" Sai yelled over to them again, "we have a view of Sasuke's bedroom! He's changing clothes right now, maybe we can settle the penis debate finally."

The rest of the group perked up in interest and sidled over, and Naruto elbowed Sai in the side. "There was no debate about his manhood, you're just... really obsessed for whatever reason. Be right back." The others watched curiously as Naruto went over to dig through his closet, and came back with five pairs of binoculars.

"Why do you have so many binoculars?" Gaara asked suspiciously.

"My guardian is Jiraiya. He's the biggest pervert I know, all of these binoculars were birthday gifts he wanted me to make use of." Kiba snickered, and Shikamaru sighed. Sai had an impressed look on his face;Naruto was sure he thought the weird boy thought it was a wonderful idea. "Anyway, maybe we can find something embarrassing about this asshole, dangle it over his head."

The group huddled around the open window, trying to be as quiet as possible even though there was no way the raven could hear them. Naruto put the binoculars up to his face, and noticed he also had a view of the kitchen, where Itachi currently was making dinner. Naruto's stomach rumbled; he should boil some ramen to snack on.

Sasuke disappeared from the room, tossing the shirt he was wearing earlier into a hamper. Naruto scanned the room for anything obviously incriminating, like a naked married celebrity, a dildo, or a poster of Justin Bieber.

* * *

Sasuke once again glanced out of his window and at the window on the second floor of the building next to his house. The one from where the penis-obsessed guy was yelling inquiries. Except now there were five pairs of binoculars peeking from the bottom and sides of the window, and a very visible head of unruly blond hair. "Idiot," he muttered, leaving his room.

"Itachi," he said as he walked into the kitchen where his brother was making spaghetti.

"Yes, my sweet little brother?"

Sasuke bristled but ignored it. "The blond is spying on me."

Itachi stopped what he was doing and turned around to face Sasuke. "Oh?"

"Yes. Spying on me. While I was changing my shirt. I know you lost your senses with the whole 'normal life' thing but at least drop the guide."

"Hmm." Itachi didn't seem to have heard him. "He's not even pretending to do any school work."

Sasuke knew where he was going with this. "No."

"Keep an eye on the stove, little brother, I'm going to visit the neighbor."

"No!" he hissed. He once again was ignored as Itachi left the house. He growled low in his throat and stalked away to finish changing in the bathroom and brush his teeth. He hoped dinner burned. Maybe the blond dumbass would choke on it and die.

* * *

The raven soon returned in a new pair of shorts with a toothbrush in his brush.

"Why is he brushing his teeth before dinner?" Naruto asked out loud.

He felt Shikamaru shrug next to him. "Maybe he's one of those types of brushes their teeth six times a day."

"Knowing how prissy he is, I wouldn't be surprised. Anyone notice anything? I don't."

"Not from this angle," Shikamaru said.

"Hey, that's it!" Kiba whispered. "We just wait until they leave the house and sneak in to do a thorough sea—"

"Kiba," Shikamaru interrupted. "Stop."

"I can sneak into his room while he sleeps," Gaara whispered. All anyone had time for was to shiver before someone started knocking on the apartment door.

Naruto started whining as they left the window and went into the living room. "Jiraiya is always checking up on me, it's like he thinks he lives across town from me instead of upstairs." He twisted the doorknob. "Go away pervert! ...oh."

Itachi stood in the doorway, looking amused at the outburst. "Interesting accusation." He made a point to look at the binoculars they were still holding.

"BIRD WATCHING!" Kiba burst out. An awkward silence followed.

"Must be very interesting birds," Itachi finally said. Three of the boys had the grace to look sheepish. Of course Gaara just glared, while Sai smiled pleasantly, completely unashamed at being caught. "Anyway, Naruto... dinner is almost done. I suggest we head over now."

Naruto clenched his fists but then sighed in defeat. "I'll see you guys later," he muttered, receiving supportive pats on the back as he left the apartment.

When they entered the new Uchiha household, Sasuke was sitting on the couch, legs propped up on an unpacked box. "Wow," he said.

"What?" Naruto said, crossing his arms.

"You're actually wearing pants."

"You're an asshole. I always wear pants."

"I certainly hope you were wearing pants while you were peeping into my bedroom, dumbass."

Naruto blushed and snarled in response, making Sasuke smirk, while Itachi looked back and forth between the two young men, looking very entertained. "Sasuke, did you keep an eye on the food?"

"Hn."

Itachi sighed and rushed into the kitchen to finish the food, leaving Naruto and Sasuke glaring at each other. After a while, Sasuke stood up and crossed his arms. "Not even going to apologize?"

"Nothing to apologize for." If he was anything, it was stubborn. Bright blue eyes bored into midnight ones, with Naruto feeling tension coiling throughout his whole body.

Sasuke took a slow step closer, and even Naruto could admit the boy looked pretty menacing with the looks he gave people. "You're useless," he said.

Itachi cut in before Naruto could insult the other. "Dinner is ready!" Sasuke glared for a few more seconds and left to go into the dining room. Naruto trailed behind him, and cheered up when he smelled and saw the food, which was spaghetti with salad on the side.

Naruto took a place at the table that was across from Itachi, with Sasuke sitting in between. The ex-actor immediately started heaping food onto his plate and shoving it into his mouth, only pausing to send a glare at the guest every so often.

"So Naruto," Itachi began, and Naruto gave him a closed-mouth smile while chewing the delicious food. "Since we live next door to each other, and with how school arrangements are, it'd probably be best to get a lift with Sasuke for school on Monday."

Neither of the seniors looked none too happy about that. "No," Sasuke clipped at the same time Naruto said, "No thanks I have a ride!"

Itachi sighed. "Okay, Sasuke. Naruto. You need to get over this childish banter, and quickly. It'd be best if you two got along, or at least took an effort to do so, since you'll be seeing a lot of each other." Naruto grumbled, realizing it was the same thing Shikamaru said. "So Naruto, be here on Monday morning, do you understand?" Then he whipped out that same menacing glare that Sasuke did earlier in the living room; he supposed it was an Uchiha thing, then.

"Yes sir," he said meekly.

Sasuke snorted and Itachi wrinkled his nose teasingly in distaste. "We'll also agree that I'm no 'sir' and you're not 'Mr. Uzumaki.'"

Naruto grinned this time. "Deal. This is great food, by the way. Thank you for having me, even if... " he was able to stop himself in time from insulting Sasuke. Itachi raised an eyebrow. "... even if I have... a lot of homework... " The two smirked.

"Don't forget bird watching," Itachi added. "So Naruto, tell us about yourself. Any dreams, do you have a girlfriend, favorite school subject, you know."

The blonde chewed thoughtfully for a while, with Sasuke completely ignoring everyone else, and swallowed. "Well, I guess my favorite class is Kakashi's English class. No girlfriend, but I hope to ask out the girl I like soon." He smiled nervously. "And as for dreams... I don't know. Just graduate, I guess."

"No career ambitions?"

"I don't really need them," Naruto muttered.

Itachi heard him anyway. "Why not?"

Naruto flushed, poking at his food. "I just have a little money from my parents after they died." The room was awkwardly quiet after that. Sasuke still looked completely bored, and Naruto now couldn't wait to get out of there even more.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Itachi said quietly. "Was it a long time ago?" Naruto nodded and left his response to that. A cell phone rang in another room, and Itachi stood up. "Excuse me," he said, and left Sasuke and Naruto alone.

Sasuke looked up finally, smirking. "Bird watch? I don't recall there being any birds in my room."

Naruto flushed, poking at a meatball. "Shut up, asshole. We were only trying to dig up some dirt, we didn't want to see your goods or anything. Well, maybe Sai did, but that's it."

The raven rolled his eyes. "Well now I'm reassured. You really are a dumbass, huh? And I'm supposed to be relying on you at school?" He scoffed.

The blond hissed. "You can't get a better guide than me! Helping a snobby prick like you is beneath me, but I'm still doing it!"

"That lady principal is making you," Sasuke snapped. "Similar to how I'm being forced to suffer your company. I'd rather have the dick-obsessed boy helping me than you. You do put on pants before going to school, right?"

"Just that one time, asshole! You're one to talk, walking around everywhere all day with a duck ass on your head!"

"Excuse me?" Sasuke maturely launched a crouton at Naruto's face. "Thousands of women and even men beg to get this 'duck ass' in bed." He sneered near the end, leaving it obvious he thought those people as beneath him, and not in a good way. "Meanwhile you sit here and whine over one girl who doesn't even know your name."

"I didn't whine, and she knows my damn name, princess!" At this Naruto impaled a meatball with his fork and whipped the utensil at the raven. The chunk of meat flew off and hit Sasuke smack in the middle of the forehead. The Uchiha sat there, nostrils flared, as the meatball slid off, leaving sauce behind.

Naruto started laughing at the whole thing, which was cut short when the raven stood up and launched himself at the blond, knocking him from his chair and tumbling to the floor. "Get off me asshole!"

"No!" Sasuke hissed, throwing a punch but missing when his head turned, but he still hit his ear. Naruto winced and kneed Sasuke in the stomach, which just pissed him off even more. Before it could escalate, Sasuke was being dragged off Naruto, who scrambled up and righted the chair.

Itachi stood between them, looking at Naruto, who was flushed again, and to Sasuke, who kept his glare up. The older man sighed, running a hand down his face. "Sasuke, I know you're upset with this lifestyle change, but losing control like this isn't like you." The younger said absolutely nothing, leaving Itachi to turn back to Naruto. "Well, Naruto, it was good to have met you, personally. I'm sure it's time to go back home."

Naruto opened his mouth, feeling bad about ruining dinner for this man, but closed his mouth. He nodded, giving Sasuke a hard stare, who glowered in return, and made his way to the front door. "And I'll see you here Monday morning. Hopefully things go smoother then," Itachi added. Naruto paused briefly, nodded once again, and left.

* * *

**A/N: And that's another chapter done! Hope it was enjoyable to read. Reviews are always much loved, whether it's criticism, comments,** **questions.**


	4. Bagels!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.**

A/N: Chapter 4, whoo! The initial fic a few years ago only got up to four chapters, though this chapter/situations didn't happen at all. Next chapter will be the first school day for our two boys.

* * *

Chapter 4: Bagels!

Everyone was gone from his apartment by the time he got back. Which he was fine with, though he was a little annoyed to see they took the few slices of pizza and soda with them. Well, at least now he didn't have to worry about throwing the pizza boxes awa—oh, never mind, his friends left them in the fridge. Empty. Thanks.

He stumbled into his room, feeling really tired even though it was still early. He glanced at his window, and when he caught the view of Sasuke's room, he let the blinds drop over his window. Naruto really didn't want to see that guy anymore tonight, preferably ever again.

Digging out his smartphone from his pocket, he swiped at the pattern to unlock his phone and called Kiba. After a couple of rings, he picked up. "Naru! Tell me how it went! Did an ambulance have to be called?"

Naruto snorted. "No, Itachi broke it up before any damage was done."

"Okay, you need to start from the beginning. Don't tease me."

He sighed. "Basically his brother is pretty chill, though dragging me over there in the first place wasn't a cool thing to do, but I get what he's trying to do. But the hate I feel for the bastard is mutual, believe me. We got into a shouting match at dinner when Itachi went to take a call."

"How'd it happen?"

"He instigated it! He's an ass. He started talking crap about us spying on him and we started yelling at each other about... like... I don't know, everything? I flicked a meatball at him and it smacked him in the face—" His ear was blasted with very loud laughter and he had to hold the phone from him until Kiba was done.

"Okay, sorry man, I'm done. you should have gotten a picture of that, though."

Naruto shrugged. "It's still a good mental image. Anyway, after the meatball slid off his face, he got up and tackled me to the floor. He tried to punch me, grazed my ear a bit, I tried kneeing him in the stomach, and that's when Itachi came back and dragged him off and told me that he'll see me Monday morning."

"Eh?"

"Oh yeah, the other fun part. I'm going to school with that ass on Monday."

"You're just having all the luck, aren't you? Don't worry, you can bitch to us about it in English. But," Kiba paused to clear his throat, and Naruto got curious. His best friend actually appeared to be nervous, which wasn't often. "Can I ask you for a favor? You don't work until noon, right?"

"Yeah..."

"You know the girl I have a crush on? Hinata Hyuuga? I found out she works at this diner, and canyoupleasegowithmetomorrow morningplease?"

Naruto grinned, not able to resist the urge to tease him. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't catch the last part."

Kiba growled. "Go with me to the diner where she works, asshole. I overheard her talking to Neji about working a shift tomorrow."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, you pathetic mutt."

"Akamaru resents that! I'll pick you up at 9, be ready."

* * *

"Thanks for doing this," Kiba mumbled as Naruto got in the passenger seat. Naruto barely heard him, but grinned. His friend had a crush on Hinata for the longest time, and while Kiba wasn't shy, Hinata certainly was. It was hard enough that she wasn't in any of his classes except one.

"What are you planning to do? Don't get too forward, she might pass out like last time." The last time being when Kiba had run up to her from behind and greeted her while tapping her on the shoulder. The girl had jumped about a mile in the air and fainted in his arms, which wasn't as romantic as it sounded.

"Har har. I'm just going to try to be really casual about it, hopefully get to a point where I get her number and to where she only stutters twice every sentence."

"Whoa, let's not get so hasty!" Naruto joked, receiving an elbow in the side that he tried to dodge.

They finally got to the small diner and when they entered, the first thing they saw was Hinata, wearing the uniform and an apron, her long dark hair was tied back. She saw them, her pale eyes growing wide, and with an 'eep!' she stumbled over to the menus, grabbed two, and ran up to them. "K-Kiba and N-Naruto, welcome t-to Kon-Konoha Breakfast!" She proudly handed them the menus. "F-follow me please!"

Kiba leaned over and whispered, "She only stuttered once that last time!" Naruto rolled his eyes as they sat across from each other in a booth.

"W-what do y-you want to d-drink?" Her hands were shaking slightly, and she clasped them together.

Naruto thought a moment. "Orange juice, please."

"Hot chocolate!" Kiba gave her a dazzling smile and she blushed and ran off to get the beverages.

When she came back, she almost spilled the hot chocolate on Naruto's lap, but thankfully righted the cup in time so that only a tiny bit sloshed out on the table. Kiba just gave her another smile, trying to be reassuring, and asked, "So Hinata, when did you start working here?"

Another blush. "L-last w-w-week."

"Do you like it? Are you still hiring?" Naruto rolled his eyes.

She gave a small smile now, though the blush hasn't gone away. "I-I do! My c-cousin Neji w-works here as w-well." A hint of a frown appeared on Kiba's face; Neji was known to be protective. "A-and w-we are hiring, I-I'll get an a-application for you, Kiba!" She ran off again.

"Smart thinking with the job. That guarantees more time with her."

"Yeah, but what about Neji?"

"Kiss his ass. Neji should be fine with you when he gets to know you."

Hinata had come back, all eyes for Kiba, and Naruto had a good feeling for his friend. "H-here's the a-application K-Kiba. I... I um... I-I think it'd b-be nice if y-you worked h-here!" He didn't know it was possible but her blush got redder. Neji came out from the back suddenly and was watching behind the counter, causing her to tense. "W-what w-would you like to o-order?"

The two boys gave Neji a grin, who just crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow, before turning back to Hinata. "I'd like the meat lover scrambled eggs and white toast," Naruto said.

"And I want the banana crepes."

Hinata nodded firmly, took their menus, and ran off again without a word. Naruto scratched his cheek, and winked at Kiba. "I think she may crush on you." Kiba grinned in return. The two left without trying to get her number for now, but of course left a generous tip, along with with a little piece of paper that simply had '=) - Kiba' on it.

* * *

It was a very slow Sunday at Bagels and Bagels. It was just him, his coworker Suigetsu, and the store owner, Anko. Anko was in the back probably drinking, Suigetsu was sleeping at a table, and Naruto sat cross-legged on a counter with Sai playing tic-tac-toe.

"I'm done," Sai crumpled up the paper after his eighth loss in a row. "You're lucky I'm keeping you company, is it always this slow?"

"No," Naruto grumbled. After a while Sai got up to go to the front door and opened it without leaving. 'Bagels!' chimed through the shop, and Naruto sighed. Yes, it did that every time the door opened.

The blond glanced at his friend, who gave an innocent smile and pushed open the door. 'Bagels!' Naruto flipped over and laid on his back on the front counter, covering his face with his hands as he groaned at his friend. 'Bagels!' 'Bagels!' 'Bagels!' 'Bagels!' "Sai, stop!" he shouted, barely noticing Suigetsu stir from his sleep before dozing back off.

"Should employees really be sleeping around the shop like this?" said a voice, and Naruto fell off the counter with a crash. He popped back up, rubbing his shoulder, and gave the customer, who was wearing a hoodie, sunglasses, and dark blue cap, a smile.

"I'm sorry, sir! It's been a really slow morning! Welcome to Bagels and Bagels home of the bagels, what can I get you?" 'Bagels!'

"That's a shitty excuse for employees to be lazy," the customer sneered. 'Bagels!'

Naruto was about to apologize and agree, but something stopped him. He narrowed his eyes and leaned over the counter to look at the customer closer, who gave a now very familiar smirk. Naruto scoffed. "Why should I care about what a bastard like you thinks?" 'Bagels!'

"Hn. I can easily get you fired." 'Bagels!'

The blond was glowering now and ripped the sunglasses off his face, revealing the icy coal eyes. "Even you can't be that much of an asshole. You may not need the money but—" 'Bagels!' "SAI SHUT THE FUCK UP." He turned back to the Uchiha. "Why are you even here?"

He shrugged lazily. "I saw you enter the shop."

Naruto bristled. "Do you want a bagel or not?"

Another smirk, but he didn't respond. If he was trying to piss Naruto off, it was working well. "I see you got the meatball off your head."

"Glad to see you're wearing pants."

"I'm not." Sai was back.

"Shut up Sai. If you're not going to order anything, asshole, go away."

Sasuke gave a dramatic sigh, and Naruto was glad to see he was going to leave. "I'll take an everything bagel." Naruto's happiness was short-lived, especially when Sasuke chose to eat his bagel at the counter.

The raven was bent over slightly, resting his forearms on the counter while every so often nibbling at the bagel, and just stared at Naruto. Naruto stared right back, refusing to be the one who looked away first. The Uchiha glare didn't scare him and he was going to prove it. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw Sai beginning to smirk.

Naruto heard the Jaws theme start up from Sasuke's pocket, and without breaking the eye contact, Sasuke answered the phone. "What?... Why?... I'm just getting to know my guide a bit, he's not being very nice." Naruto's hands clenched at that. "Fine, I'll see you in a bit." He returned the phone to his pocket and turned to leave the store without so much as another glance or goodbye.

"Don't forget you're my ride to the school tomorrow morning," Naruto called after him. Sasuke gave no sign that he heard the blond and left the shop.

"Bagel!" Sai said at the same time as the door alarm did. Naruto rolled his eyes. God knows how Sai became a friend.

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Just a short little chapter I wanted to do after I got the scenario of Sasuke entering Bagels and Bagels just to annoy Naruto. Also to start establishing the Kiba Hinata romance. Please review, reviews are like candy! 3


	5. Love Game

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. **

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews and favorites/alerts, it's like a Christmas gift to see them when I go into my email. Here's Chapter 5, enjoy!**

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**Chapter 5: Love Game**

It was Monday morning, the day when Naruto would show up with a very famous ex-actor at his side. A very famous asshole of an ex-actor, one whose hate was mutually felt. Naruto wasn't really nervous, but he was definitely something. Just wound up, perhaps. They'll probably get in some kind of fight and end up brawling on the floor in the middle of the cafeteria after Naruto throws a tater tot or some shit at the bastard. Then a bunch of girls will cry. Naruto sighed; he could see it all already.

He grabbed his backpack and exited the apartment, being sure it was locked, and headed outside to meet the bastard at his house, which was oh-so-conveniently next door. He knocked on the door, getting his hopes up that Itachi would answer and say, "Oh Naruto! I decided that Sasuke was great at being an actor so we're moving back." No such luck, the bastard opened the door.

"I'll be right out in a few minutes. Wait by my car." Then the door was shut in his face. Naruto glared at the door; would a little hospitality hurt him? Apparently so.

He turned around to look at the car parked in the driveway, which he assumed was Sasuke's. He had no clue what kind of car it was, but it looked shiny and expensive and new and sporty as hell. Naruto was jealous. He considered keying the car out of spite, but he didn't.

After a while, the door to bastard's house slammed shut and was locked as Sasuke stepped outside. He pressed something on his keychain, and the car Naruto was drooling over beeped and the doors opened vertically. Sasuke glanced over at Naruto and smirked, and Naruto had to be sure to wipe any expression of envy off his face. He threw his backpack in the car and sat down like he did this every day.

The doors closed and Sasuke started the car up, when suddenly: _'Let's have some fun this beat is sick, I wanna take a ride on your disco stick. Don't think too much just bust that kick, I wanna take a ride on your disco stick_' started blasting through the speakers. Naruto felt his eyes grow wide in surprise as Sasuke jumped and quickly reached over to eject a CD, swearing up a storm about Itachi.

"You!" he pointed at Naruto, lowering the driver's window to toss the CD out. "You won't say anything!"

The blond felt his mouth straining to twitch, laughter trying to escape, which came out as a strangled snort. "You like disco sticks, Sasuke?" He couldn't help it after that and started laughing so hard he teared up.

The raven was glaring so hard he half-expected the car to explode from the heat of it. Sasuke said nothing else and backed out of the driveway and started the ten minute drive to school. Naruto's amusement subsided quickly after that and he felt his eyelids growing heavy. He leaned on the door and decided to rest his eyes.

Next thing he knew, he was sprawled on the pavement with a smirking bastard standing over him. Naruto groaned and sat up, reaching inside the car to grab his backpack before standing up. "What the hell was that for?"

Uchiha didn't feel like responding and just pressed the button to close and lock his car doors before whirling around to head inside. Naruto stretched out his arms and back before following. The parking lot was strangely empty; he expected a pack of girls would be waiting for Sasuke's arrival. He guessed Tsunade was cracking down on that so that Naruto could have the extra time to introduce the areas of the school.

Naruto took the lead once they were inside and headed for the main offices. He smirked to himself and started humming the Lady Gaga song, which earned him a rough shove from behind. He merely glanced behind him and grinned innocently. "Something wrong?"

"Hn." Bastard tried to look completely blasé as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked over Naruto's shoulder, refusing to make eye contact. Naruto smirked to himself and opened up the door to the main office.

"Hi Naruto!" Shizune greeted. "And welcome to Konoha High, Mr. Uchiha!" She stood up to shake the raven's hand, which he did so after a moment of studying said hand.

"Thanks."

"Where's granny?" Naruto asked, and while Shizune didn't bat an eye at his nickname for the principal, Sasuke gave him an odd look.

"In her office waiting for you two. You can go right in."

The two boys slipped inside her office, closing the door quietly after them, to find a sleeping Tsunade crashed out on her desk. Naruto rolled his eyes and walked up to the desk, slapping her across the head. She jumped up and shock, fully awake, and sighed when she saw the two. "You'll be the death of me, brat."

"And you'd deserve it, after making me be around this bastard so much."

Tsunade looked up to see Sasuke still standing by the door, his face perfectly blank. "Sasuke Uchiha, it's a pleasure to meet you and have you at our school. My name is Tsunade Sannin and you don't have to let Naruto talk about like that."

It was barely noticeable, but the edge of the raven's mouth turned up into a small smirk. "The words that come from a dumbass don't bother me."

The principal grinned, looking between the two boys, either ignoring or just completely unaware of the hostility between them. "Good, you bite back. Don't let Naruto jerk you around, he'll get over your presence soon."

"Doubt it," Naruto muttered, which went ignored.

"Now that you two are acquainted enough, Naruto, you may leave to show Sasuke the school grounds. And don't forget that you'll be cutting each class a few minutes short to meet up with Sasuke at his to show him his next one. And also, keep in mind that a large portion of the student body may be... enthusiastic about his presence. We're not allowing anyone to get into school this early right now, but when school starts, it'll be more of a problem until they're used to Sasuke being here."

"Yeah yeah I got it," Naruto sighed, already shoving past Sasuke to open the door. "You'll make this up to me."

She snorted. "Go already before I hit you, brat."

They left, and wandered the halls in silence. Heaving a sigh, Naruto got out Sasuke's schedule and looked it over. "We have the first period together, and you have second period free. You can't leave campus during that time unless the free period is last in the day. I'll just meet you in the cafeteria before third period so I can take you to Art."

The bastard rolled his eyes. "Great plan. Now show me where the cafeteria is, idiot."

"I was getting to that, bastard!" They walked through the halls, Naruto noticing how odd it was that the school was so quiet and empty. He lead the raven around to the cafeteria, to the courtyard, library, nurse's office, his new locker, gymnasium. Near the end, he was seeing other students trickling through the halls, who stopped and gawked at the celebrity, so Naruto dragged the bastard to their first class and had him sit in the corner. Naruto sat on his left, and hoped one of his friends got here soon to sit in front of the raven.

Sakura was the first through the door, and when she saw Sasuke her eyes lit up like it was Christmas. Naruto felt himself blush at the sight of his crush, and jealousy that her attention was elsewhere, and Sasuke noticed and gave him that god awful smirk. So Naruto was surprised when Sakura saw him, looked confused, and proceeded to sit on the blond's left instead of the desk right in front of Sasuke.

"Good morning, Naruto," she said, sounding slightly breathless, as if she ran to class. "Can I ask why you're sitting next to the guy that you swore up and down that you hated? I just find it weird."

Naruto gave her a cheery smile. "Tsunade assigned me to show him around for a while. Just my luck, right?" He idly wondered if he let it slip that he was also his neighbor, if that would get her to come over.

She laughed, the sound music to his ears, and he found himself laughing with her and smiling like an idiot. "That is just your luck. I guess it's better than having a fanboy or fangirl do it, though. I imagine he gets tired of it."

Naruto shrugged. "I'm sure he loves the attention." He glanced at the raven and sent him a glare, who stared straight ahead and acted like the two weren't even there.

Before Sakura could respond, Kiba was next through the door, and Naruto shot up from his seat. "KIBA!"

"OH MY GOD NARUTO I MISSED YOU SO MUCH." The dog lover ran between the desks and threw his arms around the best friend he just saw the day before, while Sakura rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

He took the seat in front of Sasuke and gave the actor a curious look. Finally, he offered his hand and grinned. "Kiba Inuzuka."

"Hn."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I told you he's an asshole, didn't I, Kiba? Don't even try. This morning I fell asleep on the way over here and he opened the car door and dumped me out in the school parking lot."

His best friend gave the bastard an icy look, which was met by a very amused smirk. "Should have gotten a ride with me."

"Don't worry, I learned that lesson. Thanks man."

Sakura was glancing at the three boys, growing more and more curious. "Wait," she said, "why were you riding with Sasuke anyway?"

"I live next to him. I met his brother and he set that up. And for the record, Sasuke," midnight eyes met blue ones, "your brother is actually decent. You should be more like him."

Sasuke scoffed. "My brother is evil incarnate, dumbass. Like with that CD this morning."

"No one's going to judge you too harshly about liking Lady Gaga and disco sticks, stop blaming Itachi for—" Naruto went crashing against the floor with his desk, failing to notice Sasuke reaching his foot over to tug at the desk leg. Kiba's eyes were round in surprise, and Sakura had a hand over her mouth, not sure whether to laugh or ask if her friend was okay.

Before either of his two friends could do anything, Naruto was reaching up to haul the raven out of his desk and to the floor, flipping them over so that he was straddling the bastard. He threw a punch at his nose but his wrist was grabbed by Sasuke, who then grabbed the blond around the throat and used the shock to flip positions. He held both of the blond's wrists in one hand and was about to punch him when new arrivals broke up the fight and shoved the two back in their desks.

Gaara and Sai stood there. Gaara was glaring, Sai looked entertained—no surprise there— while Sakura was looking shocked and Kiba was laughing his ass off. Before anything else was said or done, the rest of the class was entering the room, which started to fill with squeals and whispers.

Ino had run right up to Sasuke and tried tugging Naruto out of his desk so she could sit there. "Hey bitch back off!" Sakura had snapped, and Ino had stopped only to lean on Sasuke's desk, making sure to squeeze her assets together with her arms. The fact that Sasuke pretended she wasn't even there didn't stop her at all from blabbering on about herself and asking him questions.

For once, Kakashi was right on time, adult book written by Naruto's guardian in hand. "Class, shut up. Ino, sit down. Far away from Sasuke and in a desk," he added, as she actually attempted to sit on the floor between Naruto and Sasuke's desks. She pouted and moved. He began teaching, and the rest of the hour was normal after that.

Math passed without much excitement. Naruto just talked to Sai, who showed him some of his own art, which was actually pretty damn good. Before he knew he was leaving Math early, meeting Sasuke in the cafeteria, and dragging him to Art without a word passing between the two.

After shoving off some of the girls that left the Art class as they were trying to get in, he and Sasuke finally managed to seat themselves at a table in the back. "Who teaches this class?" Sasuke asked, his words muffled from the linked fingers he had in front of his mouth, his elbows propped up on the table.

"Genma and Raidou."

He felt the bastard's eyes on him now, probably curious. "Why two teachers?"

"One keeps the other in line." Sasuke rolled his eyes and scoffed, and Naruto almost grinned, sure his explanation wasn't taken seriously. He'll find out soon enough.

The rest of the class was now entering, and Naruto noticed Sasuke jump in surprise. The blond looked over to see a man standing behind Sasuke, complete creeper face on, breathing down the boy's neck.

Sasuke settled down and looked at the man coolly. "Can I help you?"

"You are a delicious looking thing, aren't you? Two yummy boys at one table, be still my heart!" The man placed a hand over his heart and pretended to swoon. Naruto and the rest of the class were quickly becoming amused, while Sasuke continued to give him an icy look.

Another man had come in and dragged the first away by the collar, before turning back to Sasuke. "Excuse my colleague, Sasuke, he has a few issues up here." He tapped his head. "I'm Raidou, my fellow teacher here—"

"And boyfriend," Genma squealed.

"—is Genma." Naruto smirked over at Sasuke, who gave him a disbelieving 'You weren't kidding' face, much to the blond's satisfaction.

The rest of the class passed relatively normal (if you ignore the bedroom eyes Genma kept giving Naruto and Sasuke) up until the end. Raidou had to take a personal call outside the classroom, and the moment he was gone Genma was turning was turning on the screen that linked to the computer and started showing the class pictures of himself and Raidou cuddling after sex. Naruto heard a sigh beside him, and laughed.

History and the first half of Health and lunch passed without much excitement. Naruto mostly talked to Kiba and Shikamaru while completely ignoring Sasuke, who also sat with them at lunch and was ignored after the initial attempt by Naruto's friends to befriend the raven. Somehow they still ended up grasping each other on the lunch room floor and passed it off as playing around when Tsunade saw them, after which they just glared at each other and went back to class.

Naruto was back in Health with his friends, who were watching him poke and rub some cuts and bruises. "Girls can be scary," Kiba whispered.

The blond winced. "This is your fault. Why should I have to keep the crazies off of you?"

"Hn." Just that simple non-word was enough to make Naruto's temper rocket up, every time.

Fuming, he turned away from his neighbor as Jiraiya walked back into the class. He eyed every student and grinned, and Naruto didn't like the look on his face. His worries were confirmed a minute later. "We're starting a little group project. You're all seniors; last year of High School, so let's take one more opportunity to get to know each other."

Shikamaru sighed, slouching more in his chair. "What does this have to do with Health?"

His question went ignored. "Pair up." The class started moving around, and Naruto stayed next to Kiba and grinned as he saw Ino bearing down on Sasuke. He was even more amused when Sasuke darted over to the quiet girl that was Hinata, who immediately started stuttering and blushing, and Ino stormed off.

After the class was settled in their pairs, Jiraiya eyed them all. He quirked an eyebrow at Sasuke and Hinata, and settled on Kiba and Naruto. "Naruto, don't you think you know Kiba well enough by now?"

"Not really, no. He holds many secrets in his heart, my Kiba."

The pervert grinned in amusement, but wasn't amused enough to not interfere with the pairings. "Naruto, Hinata, switch seats." Naruto noticed Kiba didn't look upset at all. 'Traitor!' he thought, sighing as he sat down next to Sasuke.

"Now," Jiraiya continued. "I'll give you the first part now. It's just a bunch of questions you'll be answering about your partner. Spend time together during a free period, or outside school, call each other up, whatever. Just get to know them, make new bonds before the year is up. Don't make shit up, I'll know. This is due this Friday, so carry on." He sat down and started typing something on his computer, which was more than likely a draft of his next adult novel.

With five minutes left in class, no one really bothered attempting to start the assignment now. Naruto looked at Sasuke from the corner of his eye. "When do you want to meet up to do this?"

"Hn."

The blond grit his teeth, and he saw the raven looking smug at his reaction. He breathed in deeply, and let it all out after a second or two. "Tomorrow, then, asshole. After school."

"Whatever, loser." The bell rang, and Naruto tore from his seat to go to Gym, with Sasuke keeping up easily.

Gym was another headache-inducing affair with Gai as the coach, yelling at them about youth and energy and spirit as they played a hard game of basketball. The only good thing about it was Naruto got to 'accidentally' slam into Sasuke, sending the bastard sprawling on the floor and glaring at Naruto with eyes that promised revenge. If Naruto was perfectly honest, that part scared him a bit, but no one needed to know.

The class filed into the shower room to wash off. Naruto rinsed the sweat off quickly and wrapped a towel around himself as he dried himself off outside his stall, zoning out. Sai was watching him curiously as he dried his short black hair.

The pale boy walked up to Naruto, so close that his mouth was next to the blond's ear. "You're bisexual, Naruto?"

Naruto shivered at Sai's breath on his ear and looked at his friend warily. "Just straight. Why?"

Sai laughed, and didn't move from his spot, leaving Naruto to squirm at the hot puffs of breath on his ear and neck. "You're a bit too... watchful in the men's shower room for someone who is completely straight, which is why I ask."

Heat creeped up Naruto's face. "I don't watch anyone in here." He was pretty sure he didn't, anyway. Why was he so nervous now, and embarrassed?

"I'm gay, so I won't be judging you. I just wanted to point it out, maybe you yourself haven't even noticed." He pulled away from his friend, smirked, and placed a hand on the blond's bare chest. "Do some experimenting, see for yourself." And he was gone, leaving Naruto feeling embarrassed and the spot on his chest where Sai had his hand feeling hot.

He looked around to see if anyone had noticed the exchange and his eyes met Sasuke's. He gave the bastard a warning look, but all he received was a blank one in return. They finished toweling off and getting dressed, and Naruto showed Sasuke where Science was and left to go meet Kiba out in the parking lot.

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Sasuke was in the school parking lot, sitting in the driver's seat in his car waiting for Naruto to show up. He was feeling annoyed and angry, though he couldn't pinpoint why other than the emotions grew when he thought about Naruto. He usually didn't get so easily pissed off or amused, but with Naruto he felt those feelings frequently and in large amounts, which annoyed and pissed him off to know.

He drummed his fingers on his steering wheel, getting impatient. If the blond wasn't going to show up soon, he was out of here. He saw a head of pink hair the next car over and he opened his door and climbed out of his car.

"Sakura," he called, and he saw the girl still and look at him in shock. Then a blush took over her face, and he internally sighed. At least she didn't try groping him or start word vomiting like Ino. But she was the blond's friend, so maybe she would know where he was. "Where's Naruto?"

"Naruto?" She looked confused for whatever reason. "He and Kiba have the last hour free, so they leave after Gym. He didn't mention it to you?"

"Hn," he responded and climbed back in his car, stabbing the keys into the ignition and peeled out of the parking space and away from the school. Once again, he felt really angry at the blond, and he didn't stop to question it.

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**Chapter 5, whoo! This is a longer one, and I hope you guys enjoy it. Please leave any reviews, it's much appreciated. :D**


	6. Cracks

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

**A/N: Chapter 6 is here! I was tempted to work on the other fic's Chapter 3 first, but I really wanted to do this one. Hope you enjoy it!**

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**Chapter 6: Cracks**

He was in the car with Kiba, heading to Naruto's apartment so he could be dropped off before Kiba went to a job interview at the cafe. Kiba kept giving him strange looks, and Naruto figured it was obvious he was feeling a bit off after what happened in the showers with Sai.

"I think Sai hit on me today."

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Is that it? The guy has an obvious crush on you, but that's nothing new."

Naruto stayed quiet for a while, unsure of whether to tell his best friend what was really worrying him. He had no clue how Kiba would react, but really, he told himself, what was there to react to? It was just something Sai put into his head. "He said that I'm bisexual. That I'm unaware of my attraction to guys or something."

"Did you grope him or something?" Naruto grinned as rain drops started splattering on the windshield.

"He wishes. I don't know, he said he noticed me checking out guys. But how can I check out guys and be completely unaware of it? Makes no sense, right?" He looked over at Kiba, who was now looking a bit uncomfortable, and kept opening and closing his mouth. "Er, right?"

"Don't get me wrong, Naruto." The blond groaned. "No, wait! Why is it bad, though? So what if you may like guys? I mean you'll have to see for yourself to know for sure instead of just taking Sai's word for it, but what if he's right? It won't matter, you'll still be you. But yeah, I questioned it sometimes myself and just never brought it up, thinking you would mention it when you were ready."

"It's not _bad_ or anything, Kiba, it's just.. unexpected for me, you know? My sexuality should be something I know, not be prodded in the direction of enlightenment by friends." His friend laughed, bringing out a smile from Naruto, despite his anxiety about this new development.

"You'll figure it out," he said as he pulled up to the apartment entrance. "I wish I could stay and chat some more, but I have the job interview." He waggled his eyebrows. "Wish me luck, and if you don't see me again, check Neji's house!"

He hopped out of the car and leaned down, ignoring the drizzle. "Call me when you get back with the details. And thanks, Kiba, for.. yeah." To be honest, he wasn't quite sure how his best friend was going to react or even say, but he realized now he should never have doubted the dog lover. Something like this wasn't going to stop their long-lasting camaraderie.

"Stop sweating it!" his friend demanded, and reached over to tug the door shut since it was starting to get wet. He waved through the window and waited until Naruto was through the front door before driving away to the cafe. Naruto shook his hair out once he was inside and headed over to the elevator, shifting his backpack a bit on his shoulder.

He sat in the living room for a while, unsure of what to do, watching as the rain started getting heavier. Finally he unzipped his backpack and started pulling out some of his homework, glaring at the Health project paper as if it personally offended him. He started working on Math instead, wanting to get it out of the way first. He idly thought about calling Sai over to question him some more, but ignored the thought. Maybe he should ask Shikamaru about it tomorrow.

Someone started banging on his door, and he yanked himself out of his homework, wondering if it was Kiba or Jiraiya. Maybe even Sai. He blushed, thinking back on Sai's hand on his naked chest, Sai's hot breath in his ear, on his neck. Why was he thinking about this again?

When he opened the door, he was confused to see the littler Uchiha, pretty wet. "Uh, hi?" He was too confused to think of something insulting right now, and he was too tired.

Sasuke didn't wait to be invited in, closing the door behind him. "You know, I know we're nothing close to even liking each other, but if I go out of my way to wait for you, the least you can do is warn me when you're not planning on showing up." Was Naruto going crazy or was he pouting? And what was he on about?

"Huh?" was all he got out as he stared at Sasuke, who stood facing the blond, arms crossed over his chest.

"You. You never told me you went home with Kiba during your free last period, and I was waiting for you in the parking lot. I had to hear it from that pink-haired crush of yours that you wouldn't be showing up."

"Chill out, it's just a misunderstanding. Your brother only mentioned getting a ride to school, and just for today, nothing about going home with you as well. I didn't think to mention it, and I'd never imagine that you'd actually _wait_ for me." He actually felt pretty damn bad now, which annoyed him. This was the asshole here, after all.

Sasuke said nothing to that, only decided to glare instead. Oh god, he was pouting. A pouting Uchiha. Naruto sighed. "Okay, sorry, geez. Do you want a drink or something? A towel?"

"A towel." Naruto left to grab an unused one from the bathroom, and returned to find that Sasuke had helped himself to a glass and some water. He rolled his eyes before the raven turned to look at him, taking the towel and began drying his hair with his other hand.

Naruto propped himself against the couch, watching the other male dry off, studying him. He thought about what Sai said, about him checking out other males and being unaware of it. So he eyed the raven, trying to see if he felt any sort of physical pull for someone of the same sex. To be honest, it was hard to think of him as unattractive. His build was lean, and he was pretty tall; taller than Naruto, anyway, who was just under six feet. The hair was jet black and framed his face, while the back naturally stuck up somehow. He was pale, but it suited him, and those dark eyes could just pin a person with a glance. He vaguely wondered what they looked like when they smoldered with lust.

"Is there a reason why you're staring at me and drooling? Do you need the towel now?" Naruto snapped out of it, fighting down the blush. He looked at Sasuke, who had a knowing smirk on his face, mockingly holding out the towel.

Naruto cleared his throat and made sure to glare. "I zoned out, and I wasn't drooling."

"Hn." He tossed the towel at him anyway, so that it smacked him in the face with a muffled 'umph!' and headed towards the door. "I just wanted to settle the car matter. I'll see you in English tomorrow, dumbass."

"Wait!" Naruto called, and Sasuke paused with the door open, but didn't turn to face him. "While you're here anyway, let's just do some of those questions."

"No."

"Well, when then?" he pressed. "At least let me have your number so I can contact you about it, plan a day after school."

"I don't feel like giving you my number. Maybe we can do it on Wednesday or something."

"Asshole, give me your number. Or email, or something. Or shit, a carrier pigeon would work. It's my grade, and maybe your snobby rich ass isn't used to how schools work, but grades are important."

Sasuke finally turned around then, shooting hate from his eyes at the blond. The air between them was once again full of hostility. "You were the one who said you didn't need to work thanks to the money left to you. So don't pull that. And don't worry, I'll get back to you." He spat the last part out before leaving the apartment and slamming the door behind him. Naruto winced. They actually got along okay for about... five minutes. He didn't think it was possible for them to do anything but fight.

He sat down on the couch with a sigh, eyeing the thrown towel that was now laying next to him. They were both so hostile and rude towards each other, he wondered if it was possible at all for there ever to be a truce. The raven was naturally reserved and cold towards others, but he witnessed himself that he was the only one the raven completely lost it with. Other kids at school that bugged him, he either ignored or just gave a cool glance as if they were nothing more than annoying flies. Maybe the fact that he introduced himself (unintentionally) in boxers he really hated. Who knew.

Homework was still sitting there calling to him, so reluctantly he started doing that again. Finally his phone started ringing, and he dived at it, hoping it was Kiba with news about the job. "Hello," he grunted, having landed awkwardly on his stomach with an arm pinned underneath. "Kiba! Tell me tell me tell tell me!"

His friend laughed at his excitement. "The store owner, some nice chick named Lisa, gave me the interview. At least it wasn't Neji, right?"

"How'd it go? You got the job, right? So you can start Operation: Woo Hinata?"

"She loved me! I start on Wednesday after school, and I'll be working Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. And we need to make a deal, man. Now that I can start getting closer to Hinata, you need to ask Sakura out." Naruto stopped short, feeling surprise at the pink-haired girl's name. He hasn't thought about her all day, which was surprising, and now that he mentioned her, he felt less inclined to ask her out this year than he was before. He shrugged it off as the stressing about his sexuality and Sasuke.

"I will tomorrow. Pinky swear!" He grinned and held up his pinky in the air, even though Kiba couldn't see it. He knew his friend was doing the same.

"I won't let you forget! I have to go though, my mom's bitching at me about homework and something about celebratory cake for my first job. I'm picking you up as usual tomorrow, right?"

He realized he forgot to tell Kiba about Sasuke storming into his apartment in a huff. He'll tell him tomorrow. "As usual, yeah. And remind me to tell you about what happened with Sasuke on the way to school." The two hung up and Naruto threw his cell on the coffee table.

Getting up to make his way to the kitchen, he opened the freezer to grab a TV dinner and opened it, popping a hole in the cover before sticking it in the microwave. He sat on a stool at the small kitchen island to wait, realizing it was completely silent other than the gentle rain outside. It was times like this when loneliness started to creep in on him, but it was better than living with his guardian. He loved the man, but he was hard to live with. He always had women over, he had no privacy, and he was often out at a bar or a woman's house. He wondered what his parents had been like, and how they met Jiraiya. He felt the familiar pang of betrayal at the thought of his mother and father, and he reached up to feel the locket around his neck that was always hidden under his shirt.

By the time he ate his dinner and finished up all homework except for Health, it was almost midnight. He got pissed off just thinking about the Health project, wondering if it was going to get done at all. At least the teacher was his guardian, and he could explain what happened. He crawled into bed with that solace, slipping into sleep quickly.

Sometime during the night he was startled awake by the sound of shattering glass and a single thud. His heart started pounding against his chest at the thought of someone breaking in. He had no gun, no mace, not even a knife. Maybe a sharpened pencil would work. He stayed sitting up in bed for a few minutes, listening for any more sounds. When none came, he inched out of bed, trying his best to stay quiet, and opened the door to peek into the living room. No one was in sight.

Feeling calmer now, he walked into the living room, still trying to keep quiet just in case. He didn't see anyone anywhere, but he did notice that his window now had a hole in it. Just vandalism, then? At least it had stopped raining for now. He looked around on the floor for the thrown object, and his eyes landed on a brick.

He sighed at the thought of having to fix the window now, and made a mental note to call the landlord after school. He picked the brick up to toss back outside when he noticed some paper taped onto it. Now confused, he ripped the paper off and opened it. _'This communication is efficient_.'

His blood instantly started to boil. Sasuke did this? This was just childish now, breaking his damn window that he more than likely had to pay for now. He grabbed some paper and wrote down '_You're paying for both of these windows_' before folding it once and taping it to the brick.

He made his way through the building and snuck outside, conscious of the fact that for the second time he was going outside in boxers and loose shirt to confront Sasuke. The ground was muddy, and he hated how his feet squished into the ground and how he was going to track in mud later.

Standing at a decent throwing distance from Sasuke's bedroom window, he threw the brick. It entered the house with a satisfying crash and Naruto beelined it for the apartment entrance. He stopped short, thinking Sasuke was going to retaliate with another brick, and instead he hid behind a bush between the two buildings.

Soon enough the front door of the Uchiha residence opened again and Sasuke stormed out, looking smug. Of course he wouldn't be worrying about paying for the window, he probably bathed in money. He passed the bush and was looking for a decent angle for Naruto's already-broken window, when Naruto left the bush and rushed the other boy.

Sasuke dropped the brick with a surprised grunt as he was pushed towards the muddy ground, and Naruto made sure that his face was rubbed into the mud for ultimate satisfaction. After that he sent a fist at the the raven's cheek, ignoring the dull pain upon impact. His wrist was grabbed by a pale hand and he flinched back as it was twisted enough to cause enough pain, and the bastard once again flipped their positions.

Pain flashed through Naruto as a fist landed on his eye, and he bucked up, trying to get the other boy off of him. Sasuke merely kneed him in the gut before pinning him back down and punching him once more. Thunder rumbled overhead and it started to drizzle again, and the two boys wrestled on, punching, bucking, kneeing, and at one point Naruto tried biting one of the arms that was holding his wrist.

The rain started to pour, and both boys were losing their fighting drive. After some time they just laid there and stared at each other, Naruto still pinned underneath Sasuke, and he could taste blood from when Sasuke socked him in the mouth. The blond was the first to laugh. He closed his eyes against the rain and the raven's intense eyes and he just laughed at what they were doing until tears joined the raindrops on his cheeks.

A pig must have just flown by, as Naruto was surprised when the other boy started to laugh as well. A low, less exuberant laugh, but still—Sasuke Uchiha was laughing. They stayed like that for a while, heedless of the rain, laughing until their stomachs hurt from it. With one last hearty chuckle, Sasuke relaxed and rested his head in the blond's neck before silence between the two took over.

"What are we doing, Sasuke?" he asked, staring up into the dark sky, eyelids fluttering whenever a drop landed in his eye.

"I don't know," he replied, voice muffled from where his head was. Just like before, in the shower room, the other boy's puffs of breath on his neck caused him to shudder. If Sasuke noticed, he didn't say anything. After a while the raven rolled over so that he was laying next to Naruto, staring up. "I'll pay for the window."

It took him a moment to remember he was initially upset about that, and he grinned. "Thanks." Silence took over once more, but for once it wasn't awkward or hostile. Just peaceful. Naruto looked to the side at the other boy. "I'm sorry. About how I acted in general. I didn't even really try to get to know you at first."

"I didn't give you a chance. I haven't been thrilled about this situation, and just looking at you pissed me off."

"Two pissed off and unwilling teenage boys, not a good mixture I guess." He heard the raven snort.

Sasuke looked like he wanted to ask something, but changed his mind, standing up instead. Naruto was further surprised when he looked down at the blond and offered his hand to help pull him up. He took the offer, feeling the hands slide against each other since they were covered in mud.

Naruto looked down at himself, at all the mud that covered him. Covered both of them. He looked back at Sasuke who was looking pretty amused again. "How about a truce then? And maybe later on down the road, who knows, maybe we can figure out how to be friends."

The raven looked at him for a while and smirked as he nodded his head. Naruto ignored the elation that appeared at that simple gesture. "I'll agree to a truce. I'm going back inside now, I need to shower."

"No shit," he laughed. Both boys turned away from each other to head into their respective buildings. "See you tomorrow, asshole." He heard a chuckle.

"See you in English, dumbass." He laughed and went inside, feeling guilt at all the water and mud he was going to leave through the halls. But things were going to be fine now.

* * *

**Hope you liked it. :) And whoo, over 100 reviews now! You guys... are very awesome. Any questions, criticisms, feelings, anything, feel free to review. I'd appreciate it, and I'll respond when able.**


	7. Rejections and Experiments

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.**

**A/N: I don't know what the hell FF did with the text and document layout, but it's weird. I normally copy and paste from my Google Doc into the Doc Manager, but it spaced the paragraphs out more. Sigh. Anyway, here's Chapter 7, I got distracted with NaNo stuff the past few days.**

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**Chapter 7: Rejections and Experiments**

A very obnoxious beeping pierced through the room, so Naruto's day started by him grabbing the piece of junk and hurling it at the wall. Except it was plugged in so it just jerked at the cord before falling to the floor with an unsatisfying thunk. He got up anyway and checked to make sure the thing wasn't broken before putting it back up on his desk.

He dragged himself to the kitchen to get himself some cereal to eat for breakfast, wondering why he was so tired. It was while he was pouring his milk over his flakes that he remembered what happened early that morning, and almost poured too much milk while debating whether it was a dream or not.

Leaving the cereal to its soggy fate, he ran to the bathroom and turned the light on as he skidded to a stop in front of the mirror. A large bruise on the side of his face, a busted lip, and a black eye, not to mention he could feel soreness in his stomach and fists as well. So it really happened then, they really had a brawl in the mud after throwing bricks through each other's windows. Sasuke really held his hand out to Naruto and agreed to a truce. He wondered what Sasuke looked like.

The front door to his apartment opened and closed, and he sighed; that would be Jiraiya. Better to face him sooner rather than later, he supposed. He went back into the kitchen and sat back down at the island, doing his best to casually eat the cereal. Jiraiya was texting someone—probably a stripper—but when he looked up he got a rare serious look on his face.

"What the hell happened to your face, Naruto?"

The blond put on his best innocent face. "What do you mean? Have you looked in a mirror, perv?" He grinned.

His guardian narrowed his eyes at the boy he considered a son. "None of that cheek. I'm seriously worried right now, what happened?"

Great, and now Naruto was starting to feel guilty for making Jiraiya freak out. "Would you believe me if I told you I ran into the doorway?"

"No, I wouldn't, and why would you—why is there a hole in your window?" Oh great, he saw that. "... And why is there a hole in Sasuke's window?" Oh great, he saw that, too.

Naruto hung his over over the cereal bowl, knowing he had to fess up now. "Sasuke and I got in a fight yesterday after school. Misunderstanding. Later that night I guess he was still pissy since he threw a brick through my window. I retaliated with the same thing, and we had a fist fight outside. Then we apologized and made a truce."

Jiraiya just stared at Naruto for a long while, looking pretty flabbergasted at the story. He slumped against the back of the couch with a sigh as he ran a hand through his long messy white hair. "I don't know what to do with you two," he muttered, so low Naruto didn't think he was intended to hear it.

"We made a truce, we're fine now. Nothing to worry about." He picked up his bowl and carried it over to the sink, washing it out before leaving it in there. The other man didn't seem to have heard him and he appeared to be in deep thought, and pretty stressed. "You okay, super pervert?"

He mumbled something else, something Naruto didn't hear this time, and eventually nodded. He walked over to Naruto, reaching out to ruffle the kid's hair. "Is the Uchiha kid paying for the window?"

"He said he was, yeah. Kiba's going to be here pretty soon, I have to finish getting ready."

"Kicking me out? I see how it is," he joked, already making his way towards the door. "And Naruto, is the Health project going to be a problem?"

The blond rolled his eyes. "I was pretty ticked at you for that, by the way, but I think it'll be fine now. Don't worry."

"I'm glad to hear it. You two should get to know each other.I think you could be close." Naruto looked at him curiously as he left the apartment, and shrugged it off to finish getting ready for school.

Soon enough Kiba was there, and he played some Uncharted 3 while waiting for Naruto to finish getting ready. He finished getting ready in the bathroom, so Kiba hadn't seen his face yet; he was worried how his friend would react, and was worried he'd go straight to Sasuke's house and bust the door down.

"So Kiba," he called from the bathroom as he tugged some jeans on. "Something hilarious happened in the middle of the night." He heard his friend give a distracted grunt from the other room, and figured that meant to continue. "Sasuke and I got into a fight." The game paused.

"What the hell do you mean? And how is it hilarious?"

"It's dumb, really. We were pissed at each other during the afternoon, so we sort of... had a... brick throwing contest. Or something?" Dead silence so far. "So I waited for him to come back outside and we got into a fight. Then we apologized and now we'll be getting along." He heard a cynical snort.

All dressed and teeth brushed, he straightened his orange t-shirt and stepped out of the bathroom. Kiba's eyes widened and he gave a feral snarl upon seeing his best friend's face. "I'm killing him. I'm kidnapping him and chopping him up into little pieces and giving some sewer rats Uchiha to eat."

Naruto groaned, frustrated, but he knew this would be his reaction. "Kiba, seriously, it's fine. I'm sure he has some bruises, too. Maybe not as bad, but still. And like I told you, we're fine now. No more hulking out at each other."

"I'll believe it when I see it, man. You're always at each other's throats. I'm telling you now, if he makes one wrong move, I'm pounding him."

"That's pretty kinky, Kiba."

"Dammit Naruto!" The blond laughed then, his lip aching a little bit, but it was worth it when it broke through his friend's anger. Kiba shook his head and chuckled before turning the game off and grabbing his backpack. "You're impossible."

He locked up the apartment and outside the building to the parking space where his friend always parked. He glanced at the Uchiha residence—he watched that house way too much—when he caught sight of Sasuke, who was leaving at the same time they were.

The raven noticed Naruto, who was standing next to Kiba's car now, while Kiba looked back and forth between the two, waiting to see what would happen. Surprisingly, Sasuke was the first to react, and he raised his hand in greeting. The smirk was evident even with the distance. Naruto grinned and waved enthusiastically, causing the other boy to shake his head and get in the car.

Kiba got in after he did, looking dumbfounded. "You weren't shitting me when you said you're on good terms now."

He laughed at his expression. "I really wasn't. Hurry up, before we're late."

The brunette snickered. "That's right, you're asking Sakura out today!" He immediately looked nervous, and Kiba gave a sympathetic pat on his shoulder. "Don't worry, just mention you also like guys. I'm sure she's a fangirl for the guy on guy stuff, so she'll be all over you."

Naruto started spluttering. "What...?! No! I don't—"

"Uh-huh." His face was twitching from trying to keep it straight.

"Ass!"

* * *

Naruto had a horrible feeling about today. Sasuke was once again wedged in the corner of the English classroom, and while he wasn't as bruised up as Naruto, it was obvious he had been in a fight. Sakura had managed to grab the desk to Naruto's left, and she had freaked out over his face. She also put two and two together, and scolded him for fighting with Sasuke. She then proceeded to flutter her eyelashes at Sasuke the rest of the class, who continued to act like she didn't exist.

He felt it was hopeless asking her out—she was obviously taken in by Sasuke—but Kiba was glaring at him to get a move on before Kakashi came in halfway through class. Even Shikamaru and Gaara were obviously paying attention to what was about to happen, or not happen, while Sasuke stared at the ceiling. Probably wishing he could fly through it and get the hell out of there.

"Sakura," he said, and the pink-haired beauty moved her gaze over from Sasuke to Naruto.

"What's up, Naruto?"

He stared at her for a while, unable to get words out of his mouth, with Sakura looking more confused as the seconds ticked by. Kiba rolled his eyes and Sasuke made what sounded suspiciously like a snort before coughing. Shit, even he was listening? For whatever reason Naruto felt even more flustered now.

"Doyouwanttogotodinnerwithmes ometime?" Kiba and Shikamaru facepalmed, and even Gaara shook his head in disbelief. Sasuke didn't hide his snort this time.

"...huh?"

"Do you want to go on a date with me sometime?"

"Oh... um... I'm sorry, Naruto. I really am. I really like you, but more like a brother." The girl was chewing on her lip, looking guilty. Naruto was feeling oddly numb. "I know this isn't easy to hear, and I hope this won't end our friendship."

And just like that, his hopes were dashed, but he wasn't feeling as devastated as he expected. It was more like a large bubble inside of him had popped, and he was able to breathe again, to look ahead. If he was honest with himself, what signs had she ever given him that she felt for him what he felt for her? Perhaps he knew it'd end this way all along, so part of started to reel in the feelings, and he kept liking her just because he always liked her.

He nodded, gave her a smile, and sat back in his seat, facing forward. His friends were giving him pity-filled looks. Naruto got out a piece of paper, and wrote, '_For the both of us, succeed with Hinata_.' He passed it over to Kiba, who laughed when he read it, then looked guilty.

"Your note just reminded me, I won't be able to drop you off at home tomorrow after school, I'll need to be at work pronto. You cool with walking, right?"

Naruto nodded; it was only about a forty-minute walk. "Don't worry about it. Just do what I told you!" He gave his best friend a wink, and they had to stop talking since Kakashi had finally tossed his presence into the class.

He zoned out for the rest of the class, watching as Kakashi walked around the classroom while lecturing, gesturing with his arms, one of his hands permanently attached to the Icha Icha book. How many times had he read that by now? He jumped in his seat and squeaked as a finger poked into his side. He looked over to glare at Sasuke.

"We leave for the next class now, no?" He stared at the raven, unsure of what to think. He had a free period next, did he forget that? Somehow he doubted it. He got up anyway, not about to turn down an excuse to leave class early, Sasuke following suit.

Once they were out in the hall, Sasuke reached over to grab Naruto's phone from his pocket, and started messing around with it. "Real smooth back there," he said, referring to Sakura.

"Yeah. Well. In all honesty, I'm not surprised. It's fine though. And give me my phone back."

A few seconds passed by. "K," he grunted, tossing the phone back to its owner. He looked it over to see what he did to it, and realized 'Sasuke' was now added to his contacts list.

The blond couldn't stop the grin that stretched across his face. "Thanks. Asshole."

"Dumbass."

* * *

For lunch, all Naruto grabbed was a bag of chips and a slice of pizza, and hurried his way to their lunch table. Thankfully, only Shikamaru and Gaara were there, so he could get their opinion on what Sai told him yesterday. He hurried over and sat down across from them, causing Shikamaru to raise an eyebrow at his anxious expression.

"Can I ask you guys something?"

Gaara swallowed his mouthful of green beans. "You just did." Naruto gave him a blank expression. Harhar, since when did he get a sense of humor? Even Shikamaru looked surprised.

"You should keep doing that, Gaara. Anyway, guys. Ah. Have you ever gotten the impression that I'm attracted to other guys?"

"Yeah," they both said in unison, and Naruto groaned, wondering what to do with this information. A snort came from behind him, and Sasuke took the chair next to him, smirking.

"Obviously. Or did you forget that you were spying on me changing clothes in my bedroom? Wanting to see me _naked_?" The other two snickered at the comment, ignoring the fact that they were also spying, but Naruto just gaped at the new arrival. He flushed as an image of a naked Sasuke entered his mind unbidden.

Instead he scoffed, looking the other way to hide his faint blush. "And you call me the dumbass." Sasuke's smirk could practically be felt.

Kiba and Sai joined them at last, and Sai and Naruto's eyes connected from across the table. A slow smile crept across his face at the blond. "What's everyone talking about now?" Sasuke gave Naruto a warning glance. Naruto ignored it.

"Sasuke's body." A low growl came from the raven, while Sai perked up.

"About his penis?"

"No," Sasuke said, and gave Naruto another smirk. The blond felt dread when he saw his expression. "We were talking about Naruto's new attraction to men." He wanted to punch him now.

Kiba laughed at the new topic of conversation and Sai's smile grew wider, if that was possible. "That's not new," the pale boy said, eyes on Naruto.

"Sure as hell new to me," he muttered, causing Sasuke to glance at him again, his expression blank once more.

"What about you, Sasuke?" Sai pressed, still looking at Naruto. Which was pretty weird, honestly. "What team do you bat for?"

"Hn." The raven ignored the question and started eating his sandwich. Sai didn't seem to care, but just gave Naruto a contemplative look and started eating his lunch.

They finished up and headed back to Health class as the ending lunch bell went off. Jiraiya was sitting cross-legged on his desk, eating a burrito and reading an Icha Icha book. Who the hell knew why he was reading a book he wrote. He looked up as the group of friends walked in and gave a wave.

"How's the project going, Sasuke?" his guardian pressed. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"We're meeting up tomorrow to start work on it," the raven replied as he, Naruto, and Kiba sat down at their table, the other three at the table in front of them. Naruto glanced at Sasuke.

"When did that happen? I must have missed that conversation," he whispered sarcastically.

"Do you happen to be doing something else? I know you work only a few days a week and that you're free tomorrow. Just stick around and get a ride with me and we can work on it at my place."

"Yes, Master," Naruto scoffed, and Kiba grinned beside them.

* * *

Naruto turned the locker room shower off and reached for the towel that was hanging to the side. He dried his hair and body before wrapping it around his waist to step out to get his school clothes from off the bench. Before he could do so, Sai slipped through the curtain, already dressed and holding Naruto's clothes.

He gave the intruder an odd look and reached out to grab his clothes. "Uh, thanks."

Sai smiled cheerfully, apparently ignorant of the awkwardness that usually comes from walking into people's public shower stalls. "So," he said quietly, "you have things figured out. About what I told you yesterday in here."

The blond thought on it for a while, just holding his clothes. Now that he was told about it, sure, he could admit he liked looking at guys and felt a pull from that. But what if it didn't go beyond that? "I don't know," he replied after a while. "This whole thing is still pretty new to me. I think maybe I am, yeah."

His friend cocked his head to the side, studying him intently. The look made Naruto want to squirm. "I told you to experiment." The space between them closed a little.

Naruto stood his ground. He'd only admit it to himself for now, but he wanted to see what would happen, what the other boy was going to do. "You did," he agreed. "What did you even mean by that? Watch some gay porn, see if it pops up?"

Sai smiled and moved closer. He slowly reached up to grip the other boy's shoulders, giving him a chance to leave the situation. When he didn't, he completely closed the distance between their torsos and leaned forward, pressing his lips to the other's.

Even though the blond saw it coming, he still couldn't help a quick burst of shock coursing through him. One of Sai's hands moved from his shoulder to the back of his head, weaving through his hair, and he had to admit it didn't feel bad at all. Sai could be a bit weird, but his kiss was nice, and gave him warmth.

After some hesitation, Naruto tried kissing back. He was a bit nervous with this, not having a lot of experience kissing, boy or girl. A few seconds later Sai pulled back to look at Naruto's face, his other hand slipping off his shoulder to land on the thick rectangular locket that always hung around his neck and under his shirt. Naruto stepped back then, the necklace slipping out of Sai's fingers.

Sai didn't question it, Naruto happy he didn't. "So," Sai said. "How do you feel?"

He blushed. "It felt nice, actually. I guess you were onto something."

The pale boy went back to his cheery wide smiles. "Of course I was. Now put your clothes on, before I try more." With a wink and a quick peck to a scarred cheek, Sai left the stall, leaving a dumbfounded Naruto.

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**I'll go ahead and warn now there will be a bit of SaiNaru in this fic. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy, and don't forget to leave a review!**


	8. Secrets

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.**

**A/N: Chapter 8 out of 27, here you go! Longer than usual one, hope you enjoy it. R/R!**

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**Chapter 8: Secrets**

He ran the kiss through his mind over and over, trying to sort out his feelings about it. About Sai. It was a pleasant experience, he had to admit. If Sai came back right now and asked to kiss him again, he wasn't entirely sure he'd say no. On the other hand though, it was Sai. The guy who yelled out a window to Sasuke asking for his penis size, the guy who introduced himself to Naruto by insulting something that may or may not have been a passion of his. It wasn't a passion, but still. Sai liked him as more than a friend, but was it a mutual feeling?

Thankfully when Naruto finished putting some clothes on and left the shower stall, no one was giving him any weird looks. Which was good; that meant no one noticed Sai visiting a what should be a private area and staying there for a longer-than-necessary time. Naruto was especially glad Sasuke had already left the showers and didn't see anything. He noticed the last time Sai was coming onto Naruto and had felt him up, practically. Not that he said anything about it, but it still bothered Naruto.

It was later that day when he decided to call Kiba with the decision to tell him what happened. He'd probably choke at the thought of Sai kissing anyone, much less his best friend. He had been ignoring homework all day and was lounging around in his bed, staring up at the ceiling while waiting for the boy to pick up.

And then finally: "Yo! Dude, so I have my first day of work with Hinata tomorrow,_ and_ afterwards we're going to chill at the library to work on that Health project."

"Sasuke and I are meeting up tomorrow to work on it as well. So if you were feeling guilty about making me walk, don't; I'm getting a ride with him. But you probably didn't feel guilty, you muttface."

"Ha ha, you're hilarious. Why do I put up with you again?"

"You love me. Obviously." The conversation was interrupted by a round of frenzied barking on Kiba's end, followed by the brunette yelling at it to shut up and the sound of a door closing.

"Sorry. A bird flew into the window and Akamaru freaked out."

"A bird flew into your...? Whatever, anyway. Do you know what you're going to be doing at the cafe?"

"I'll be a server. You should come in sometime when I'm working. But only after I get the hang of it, you'll only make me more nervous if you come in tomorrow or something."

"Do I have to tip you?"

"Of course."

"No thanks." A round of playful cursing followed.

"So," Naruto started, and he could Kiba could sense a serious topic was about to come up now. "Um. Something pretty weird happened today after Gym. In the showers."

"What happened in the _showers_?" His tone was suggestive, and Naruto had to laugh. Too bad it wasn't far off from the truth.

"Sai and I kissed."

"He kissed you or... you kissed him?"

"He kissed me, I kissed him back. It was short." There was dead silence except for occassional barking in the background for a moment.

"Ew. Why would you kiss Sai? I mean like I said before, his crush on you is really obvious, but... he's weird."

"He's weird, yeah, and I don't know. The kiss was just... pretty nice, so I kissed him back. And he is good looking..."

"Ew," was all Kiba said again, and Naruto chuckled. They chatted a little more about Sai and Hinata, and once Kiba expressed wonder at the fact that Naruto and Sasuke didn't get into a fight all day, and they hung up.

The next day at school was mostly uneventful. Sasuke kept pushing Naruto to leave early to Sasuke's next class as arranged, though he clearly knew where it was anyway. It also wasn't like he had anything in particular to talk about, most of it was filled with peaceful silence. Naruto didn't mind, so the two left.

Naruto ended up skipping his Math class, partly to avoid Sai, partly because he just didn't like Math. Sasuke had a free period then, so the two lazed about in the library. Naruto was browsing through the bookshelves when he saw one on origami, grabbed some paper from the library's printer, and took them back to the table Sasuke was sitting at.

Sasuke watched in silence as he flipped through the origami book, trying to find one that caught his eye. He settled on making a shuriken and looked up at Sasuke. "What to do one?" He expected the raven wasn't interested at all.

"Hn." To his surprise, Sasuke reached over to slide the book to his side of the table and flipped through the easy origami options quickly. He stopped at one called Verdi's Vase, took pictures of the instructions from his phone, and gave the book back to Naruto.

Naruto went to work on his shuriken, setting aside all but two sheets of paper that the book said he'd need. He hardly noticed Sasuke leave and come back with his paper cut. He messed up a few times and had to restart. Once he was so frustrated he rolled one paper up into a ball and tossed it aimlessly and ended up smacking Sasuke in the shoulder. The other boy retaliated by giving him a kick in the shin.

Sasuke finished way before Naruto did, and of course he only had to try the one time. Perfect flawless bastard. He spent the rest of the time watching Naruto work on his, chin resting on his folded fingers, elbows propped on the table, saying nothing at all.

Eventually Naruto folded the shuriken successfully and held it up, proud of his work. "Good job, dolt," Sasuke teased.

"Don't upset a ninja!" the blond said, dramatically throwing his paper shuriken at the other boy. It poked his nose, making Sasuke snort in amusement and grabbing it. The bell ending second period rang and Sasuke got up and left without another word, leaving the origami book and vase on the table.

"Hey, did you want to keep your vase?" he called after him. He didn't see why he wouldn't, it looked pretty cool. Regardless, he was ignored, so he picked up the vase; his shuriken was taken anyway. One of the librarians could put the book back.

He got through some more of the day until lunch. By then, Kiba was nervous about his first day; both because of Hinata and because it was just his first job. Sai was giving Naruto a curious look as he ate his food, and eventually Naruto got annoyed and had to ask what his problem was.

"Have you been avoiding me?" he asked. "You weren't in Math."

"You skipped a class?" Kiba asked, surprised. Not that he blamed him, Naruto didn't skip often.

"Yeah, it isn't a big deal. I was in the library, just relaxing. And no, I'm not avoiding you. If I was, I wouldn't be sitting here right now, would I?" Sai shrugged, a small smile playing at his lips.

"Why would he be avoiding you?" Sasuke asked. Oh god, why did he suddenly care? Just don't answer. Ignore the question completely, Sai—

"I kissed him. Though I don't know why he'd avoid me, really, he kissed back." Naruto wanted to sink into the floor.

"Hn."

"You and Sai are dating?" Gaara asked, looking as shocked as Gaara could look.

"No!" He didn't miss the wince from the other boy at the denial. "We just kissed, that's all."

"'That's all?'" Sai repeated, not looking unlike a kicked puppy.

"But you'll be dating soon," Shikamaru jumped up, and that didn't sound like a question, causing Naruto to pause for a moment.

"That would be a conversation for me and Sai," Naruto mumbled in the end. "Not you guys, you nosy freaks." He looked around the table, realizing someone was missing then. "Where's Sasuke?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "He discarded his food and left, Almighty Attentive One."

"Aren't you supposed to be stalking him all this week?" Kiba asked, and it was around that time that Naruto noticed the small group of chittering girls trailing out of the cafeteria, and figured he should find Sasuke.

All he had to do was follow the sound of high-pitched shrieking, really. He halfway expected to round a corner to find the raven being mauled with girls crying weird shit like "I got a lock of his hair!" but he ended up finding him in the bathroom, washing his hands.

"You know, I got along just fine with rabid fans without you," he said without looking up.

"Yeah, but I'm sure you had bodyguards, or your brother, or something. There's nothing between you and them at this school."

Sasuke smirked, turning to meet Naruto's eyes. "Are you calling yourself nothing?"

"When it comes to the creatures out there?" He grinned. "May as well be nothing." Sasuke scoffed and said nothing more. The two boys hung out in there for the rest of lunch, leaving when the bell rang and others were out in the hall.

He went through the rest of the day without any incidents. For Gym he was one of the first to get into the showers and got in and out in record time. He just needed more time to figure things out with Sai, and he didn't need the boy surprising him in the shower with more kissing.

After Gym he waited around in the library for Sasuke's Science class with Aoba to get out. Finally he got a text telling Naruto to meet him at his car, and he gladly left the school. Sasuke was in his car already, engine on, and said nothing when Naruto slid into the passenger seat.

"Is Itachi going to be there?" he asked after a while, just trying to fill the silence.

"Sadly. Why?"

He shrugged. "I just thought he was cool when I was over at your house last. He didn't throw crouton at me."

"You hit me with a meatball."

"After you hit me with a crouton. Jerk. Anyway, why do you dislike your brother?"

"I don't, not really. But he's my older brother." He said that like it should answer the question, but Naruto was still confused. He felt a pang of loneliness once more, something which he has felt his whole life. No mother, no father, not even any siblings. Just his group of friends and Jiraiya, who was the closest thing to a father for him.

They pulled into the driveway and stepped out of the car, Naruto still marveling over the car doors opening vertically. He just couldn't get over how awesome that was. As soon as he stepped into the house he was grabbed into a bear hug by a lurking Itachi. Sasuke didn't bat an eye and went to his room.

"What are you doing?!" he managed to gasp out, and he was thankfully let go.

"Just saying hello." The damned Uchiha smirk again. "Glad to see you two are getting along better, though. My little brother briefly mentioned the truce you two made. And paying for fixing up the windows."

Oh god, was he pissed about that? Because Sasuke totally started it. "I'm sorry, it was childish of both of us. I hope it wasn't too much trouble."

Itachi shrugged. "He started it, did he not? He's not usually one for having a temper, but what can you do?" He was eyeing Naruto curiously.

"...what?" he asked.

"You're just interesting. Would you like anything to drink? Eat? We have deli rolls." Well, that was a quick subject change, but Naruto didn't care when deli rolls were mentioned. He took the plate piled high with them and two cans of soda and followed Sasuke to his room.

The raven was sitting cross-legged on his bed with his papers in front of him, backpack on the floor. Naruto took his shoes off and hopped up on the bed, sitting on the side of it, sitting his backpack next to him. He grabbed the Health assignment out, careful not to damage the origami vase at the top, and noted with surprise that the shuriken was now sitting on Sasuke's bedside table.

"You kept that!" he said, and Sasuke followed his eyes to the shuriken.

"Well, yeah. It took you about thirty tries to get it right. That shuriken is probably the biggest achievement in your life." Naruto harrumphed but said nothing else on the matter.

They penciled in each other's names at the top and looked over the list of questions. At least it wasn't too many, but some Naruto weren't looking forward to answering. Jiraiya would have seen that coming.

"Your favorite subject in school," Sasuke demanded. "Mine's English."

Naruto thought for a while. He really didn't have a favorite subject, they were all the same to him. But English he had the most fun in. "English as well, but that's because the teacher's always late and my good friends are in there."

He rolled his eyes a bit. "Okay then... ah... first crush. Never had one."

Naruto stared at him. "You're kidding me, right? You're 18 like me, aren't you? Of course you've had a crush."

He stared right back. "Nope. I had a busy schedule my whole life, and I'm not one to give people much attention. Answer the question, idiot."

The blond sighed. Didn't give people much attention? Could have fooled him. "Sakura. I first noticed her when I was fourteen. I was trying to get a slice of pizza for lunch and they ran out right before me. She gave me her slice, we've been friends since."

"How adorable," Sasuke said sarcastically.

"Shut up, you prick. Next question is, how you met your best friend. Obviously Kiba is my best friend. We met when we were six. I was kind of... I don't know. Very angry, at that age, and I met Kiba and he just grew on me. We made a promise to always be friends and to always have each other's backs." He waited for Sasuke to finish writing that down, ready for his own answer.

"Never really had a best friend either."

"Are you shitting me?" he gaped. "No one? No one comes to mind at all?"

Sasuke shrugged. "One kid, but it was a long time ago, and my family and I were on vacation. That's it, though."

Naruto sighed. And he thought his life had been lonely. For the first time he wonondered what life as a very famous celebrity was like. Probably not very appealing at all.

The raven's eyes grew hard when he scanned the list of questions. "Describe your parents," he said. "Mine loved me and Itachi. When I was seven they were shot and killed. Your turn." Naruto looked up, shocked at the admission, and found that Sasuke was glaring at him, daring at him to say sorry, to show pity, to treat Sasuke like a fragile piece of glass.

He swallowed, and looked back down. Not like that particular question was an enjoyable one for to think about, either. "I can't describe them, only what they looked like. When I was a few months old they decided to abandon me by jumping from a building. I was raised by my godfather, Jiraiya."

The room was dead silent for a while, but then Sasuke gave a lighthearted snort. "That sucks, having to spend any amount of time with Jiraiya outside of school."

Naruto laughed, thankful to have the depressing atmosphere dissipate. "You had to put up with Itachi, I had to put up with Jiraiya."

Sasuke snorted as Naruto looked at the list of questions. "Thankfully only a few left," the blond said. "Next one. What is something you'd consider a secret? I'll go first. When me and Kiba first became friends, he had this other dog, named Bubbles." He noticed the look on Sasuke's face. "He was like 8, shut up. Anyway, he loved that dog.

One day I was outside in the car waiting for Jiraiya to leave a pub. He eventually does, but he brings these twin chicks with them, and he's obviously buzzed over. So he makes me drive home—"

"Oh god...," Sasuke said.

"—and one of the girls is distracting me because she's climbing around the car trying to sit in her sister's lap, and I didn't see Bubbles, and I hit him. I never told Kiba, and sometimes I even dream about it still. Kiba was so devastated."

"That is so fucked up in many ways." Sasuke made a weird sound then, and it took Naruto way too long to figure out that it was a chortle. A chortle. From Sasuke Uchiha. He would remember this moment forever. The raven eventually remembered that he was supposed to be writing the story down, and he started talking while he did so.

"After we lost our parents, we ended up with a guy named Orochimaru. I was seven, Itachi was eleven. He would... do things. He would hurt us, but made sure it would be in places where no one would see. He'd threaten us to keep our silence, and he took..." Sasuke stopped to breathe in deeply, and Naruto was dead silent, feeling horrified. "Advantage of Itachi. And later, of the money I started to make as a child actor. So when Itachi was old enough to make himself my guardian, he did so, and I haven't seen him since. I guess my secret is, he's the only person I would kill. And I mean that."

"That's... I don't know what to say. Can't you do something now? Get him behind bars? He's a monster."

"Really, Naruto, to be truthful I'm still scared of him. Of what strings he could pull. Which is why I'd kill him, those strings would go limp."

"You're not going to do something crazy like hunt him down or something, are you?" It didn't seem like Sasuke even thought of it, but he had to ask. Had to be sure he wasn't going to lose him now that they finally started to be friends.

"No. I won't see him again anyway. I'm done talking about this though. Tell me what you want to be later in life. After school, I guess."

"I don't care, really. Kushina and Minato left me enough money to live off of, so I never cared about... doing anything. No reason to."

"Hn." He started to write that down.

"Aren't you going to scold me or something?" Everyone else did at his lack of enthusiasm.

"Why would I, when I feel the same way? I've had a private tutor my whole life while I acted and made the big bucks. And suddenly that rug is pulled out from under me. How am I supposed to know what to do with myself? Maybe I'll just go back to acting after I graduate."

Naruto felt a pang in his chest. Just like that, he'd forget them all? Go back to acting and go on like Konoha High and his group of friends never happened? Like Naruto never happened, like he never had a fist fight in the pouring rain in the middle of a mud puddle, only later to help him up and make his first friend. He froze at the thought. Did Sasuke consider him a friend?

"Sasuke. Are we friends?"

The other boy didn't look up to meet his insistent gaze, just kept his head lowered, eyes on the filled out piece of paper for Health. "That's not one of the questions."

The pang in his chest strengthened, but he was determined not to show Sasuke his lack of an answer had gotten to him. If he wanted to be that way, then fine. "I guess it isn't."

* * *

Naruto laid down on his bed, looking up at his ceiling, phone in his hand. He turned his head slightly to look at his bedside table, his eyes searching and finding in the darkness the origami vase he set next to his alarm clock. He held the phone up, scrolled through his contacts list, and hit the 'Call' button.

It only had to ring three times. "What's up, kiddo?"

"Are you busy?"

"Nope. You're not in any trouble, are you?"

"I'm not. Not at the moment, anyway." Laughter came from the other end. "I just got back home from Sasuke's. We did our Health questions."

He could tell the man immediately became somber at his words. "Ah. Everything go okay?"

"Yeah, things went fine. We answered everything. I was wondering... maybe it's stupid." Maybe it was. He had gone his whole life up until now without caring about asking these questions. Why should he care about people who deserted him in the most pathetic way possible?

"Naruto?"

"Jiraiya, tell me about them. Why did they do... what they did?"

The man heaved in a sigh and let it out in a whoosh. "I can tell you they loved you. No, Naruto, they did," he added when the blond gave a derisive snort. "They doted on you all the time, and Kushina did nothing but talk about you and do things that helped your health when she was pregnant.

She was a painter, and she was actually a pretty well-known one. The one I gave you for a birthday a few years back... that's one of her's." The one with the fox in the flower field hanging over his TV? He never knew that. "Minato was a cop, and his job was risky. Your mother always had a quick temper and a strong will, but she was one of the most caring people I knew. And she talked a lot. Mostly about you, after she found out about the pregnancy.

Minato... you look just like him, you know. Minato was more calm and level-headed than his wife, and he was very quick. Adapted well. But he could sure as hell be scary when he wanted to be, just in a quiet way."

Naruto didn't say anything for a while, just let the information sink in. About how his parents were. He hasn't seen many photos of them; Jiraiya has them all stored in his apartment and Naruto never asked to see them. He mostly had the tiny picture in his locket, of his parents and a baby him being held between them. Looking happy. He wondered if they wore fake smiles in that picture.

"Didn't they show signs of... depression, or something? Anything?"

"Stress, mostly...," the older man admitted. "Minato had a very stressful job, and he was often gone. He didn't talk about it much." He sounded strained. "I don't know why what happened happened, I only have... I wish I knew, Naruto. Does it help? To talk about it a little?"

"Not very much," Naruto sighed. "It still happened."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah. Well. That's all I wanted to know, really. I'm going to go to bed. I'll see you tomorrow. And... thanks."

"I'm here any time, Naruto, I hope you know that. May not be the best at times, but I care about you more than anything."

"I know, and I appreciate it. I... love you." Oh god, how sappy. But the loneliness abated a little, knowing Jiraiya was always going to be there.

****"I love you too, kid."

* * *

**Phew, one hell of a chapter. 4,000 words! :P For some reason I couldn't stop laughing when I was typing up the conversation about Bubbles. I think something is wrong with me. Anyway, I did some chapter outlining the other day, and this story is going to be 27 chapters long. So strap in for the ride, it's going to be fun.**

**Please leave reviews, you have my thanks! :)**


	9. Sai

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters**.

**A/N: Little bit about Sasuke. He's being an idiot, I know. Part of that is his guardian, which was brought up in chapter 8. Along with that, and the fact that he practically grew up in the public eye as a very popular actor and was close to no one, used by everyone, his instinct is to push away anyone he feels he can get close to. Itachi is the exception, and even then he's a bit closed off from his brother, which Itachi is trying to fix. I'll talk about Sai at the end of the chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Sai **

When Kiba had burst into his apartment in a blur of loud excitement, opening the door so hard it flew back and slammed against his wall with a bang, it caused Naruto to jump a mile up and slosh milk from his cereal on his jeans. "Jesus hell dude you don't have to scare me like that!" he cursed, ripping off a square of paper towel to try to dry his jeans.

"Sorry, I'm just really excited to tell you about what happened last night. My phone died which is why I didn't call."

"It's fine. I just assumed Neji had strangled you and dumped you into a lake or something. What happened? Did you get into her pants?"

Kiba was silent for a moment, giving Naruto his best 'are you serious right now?' look. "We're talking about Hinata here, what do you think?" he said sarcastically. Naruto grinned. "But no. We weren't too busy at work and it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, even with Neji there. He was actually helpful, and I got a decent amount of tips. Customers can't resist my sexiness!"

The blond scoffed. "What sexiness? As your apparently bisexual best friend, you are not sexy!"

"And I'll thank you to keep thinking of me that way, thanks. No hitting on me!"

"No worries, mutt. Anything happen after work? You said you were doing your project together at the library."

"Yes!" Kiba practically all but screamed, and Naruto sighed and dumped his dishes in the sink. "It was kind of awkward at first but I brought up wanting to get to know her more and she said she felt the same, we have a date this weekend!" His best friend was gushing. Like a little schoolgirl. Naruto couldn't help but feel happy for him.

"I can tell you and Hinata will be a great couple."

"We will. My main worry is being on the good side of her family." They both shuddered at the thought of Neji Hyuuga. "What about you? You had to spend time with Sasuke last night for the project, right? Did your truce break yet?" He could tell Kiba was expecting it to.

"No, it went fine. It got kind of personal for both of us, I won't go into those details, but we talked about other things. His career in Hollywood, his brother, parents, I told him about my lack of shit-giving when it concerns anything after school, and I told him how we met and became best buds when we were six, and—"

"Eight."

"Huh?"

"We met and became best pals when we were eight, doofus."

"Oh, I was off a bit. Same difference," he laughed. "Could have sworn it was six, but oh well. But yeah, I was feeling sappy or something and asked him if we were friends, and he pretty much said no."

Kiba was silent for a while, and Naruto thought he could see pity in those eyes. "Do you want to be friends with him?"

"I guess, yeah. It'd be nice. I consider him a friend, but it's whatever."

Kiba ran over and elbowed him in the side. "So I'm not good enough for you now?! Is that it, huh?!"

He ended up toppling the blond to the floor and they wrestled a bit before Naruto spotted the clock hanging on the wall and yelped, shooting up and grabbing his apartment key. "We have to go!"

The brunette rolled his eyes. "Don't know why you're so frantic, you know our first class is English. You know. Taught by Kakashi. The guy that's at least 15 minutes late to class himself?"

"Just get out, he's not the only teacher who can spot us coming in late and you know it." Kiba blew a raspberry in his direction and left the apartment, and the two trotted downstairs and out of the apartment building. He glanced at Sasuke's house the moment he got outside and saw that the car was already gone, but Itachi was outside. He did a double-take and realized the man was watering flowers. The older Uchiha saw him looking over and gave a cheery wave, and Naruto waved back slowly, trying not to laugh at the sight.

They got to class right as the bell rang, and he saw his usual seat was taken by Sakura's purse. When the pink-haired saw him come in, she smiled and removed her purse, ignoring the sulky looks the other girls were throwing her. Naruto sat down, giving her a thankful smile, also glad to see that they were still friends. Sasuke sat in the desk next to him as usual, but didn't look over as he sat down.

The minutes trickled by, and Naruto spent the time conversing with Sakura, Kiba, and Shikamaru. Every so often Gaara would give his input on something, and Naruto would always grin encouragingly at him.

Kakashi eventually entered the room, twenty minutes late. Naruto and Sakura stood up and pointed and, in unison, said, "You're late!" accusingly. They did this multiple times a week.

The teacher waved a hand at his two students dismissively. "Yes, yes, apologies," he said behind his mask. "I had to help this poor little girl with her Easter egg hunt."

"It's September," Kiba pointed out. He was ignored.

Naruto got bored when Kakashi started talking, so started doodling a picture of the teacher helping a cute little girl collect plastic eggs, with a crocodile sneaking up on him from behind. Sakura was leaning over and was trying to add bows to Kakashi's hair.

He was trying to slap her hand away when he felt a finger poke him in the shoulder. He looked over to see Sasuke's impassive face looking over at him. "Class ends in a few minutes, we should head out."

The blond was still pretty sore over the friendship rejection, so he did his best to look just as emotionless as the other boy. "Sasuke, I think you don't need any more help with the school layout. Besides, you don't even have a class next hour."

Dark eyes narrowed just a little bit, and he sat forward once more, crossing his arms over his chest. "Fine," he said stiffly, and Naruto rolled his eyes at the petulant attitude and turned back to his doodle. He glared when he noticed Kakashi now wearing a frilly dress, and Sakura was giggling at her addition.

The bell rang, and Sasuke was the first to be out of the class as if he just saw Itachi about to burst in through one of the windows. Naruto checked the windows to make sure that wasn't the case, and headed to Math. He wondered what Sai would say to him today. What would he say to Sai?

When he entered the room, greeting Yamato as he lounged outside the doorway as he passed, he saw Sai was once again sitting at Naruto's table, waiting for him. "Hey Sai." He smiled nervously as he slid in beside him, and Sai inclined his head slightly in response.

"Do you work today?" he asked.

"Nah, I work tomorrow and Sunday and that's it for this week. Why?"

"Go on a date with me this evening, then." Naruto stilled. A date? With Sai? He bit his lip, mulling over the decision. The kiss he still thought of as nice, maybe it was possible for him to like the other boy as more than a friend.

"Okay," he agreed. Sai let himself smile.

* * *

He and Sai agreed that they would leave right after school and he would drop Naruto off at his apartment afterwards. That was how he found himself in the school library once again, waiting until the end of the school day and for Sai's last class to end. The bell rang and Naruto stood up, and saw Sai by the main entrance, a soft smile on his face, and Naruto felt his doubts wash away when he saw it.

Naruto followed the other boy to his car and got in, and he drove to the nearest grocery store. They agreed earlier to pick up some food and go to the park with it, since it was a nice day and they should be enjoying the weather while it lasted. They entered the store and headed straight to the deli, browsing the large glass case that the food was behind.

The deli worker was starting to get impatient, as were other customers; some had just walked around the two and ordered what they wanted. The two eventually settled on some chicken strips, potato wedges, sandwich meat and cheese, coleslaw, and grabbed a fresh loaf of bread from the bakery. They went to the front to pay for their purchases—they split the cost—and went back to the car, bags in hand.

Finally they were in the park, and Naruto was content sitting on top of a picnic table, as opposed to the bench, enjoying the breeze. Sai was sitting on the table on the other side, their backs pressed together. Naruto had to admit it was peaceful.

"You know," Sai said after swallowing some of his sandwich. "My brother and I used to do this all the time. Grab some food and go somewhere with it. Park, beach, a roof."

Naruto was honestly surprised to hear Sai had a brother. "I didn't know you have a brother. Is he away at college or something?"

"Mmm, nah, and he wasn't really my brother. My mom sent me to this stupid summer camp thing when I was a kid, I met him there. We referred to each other as brothers, though." Naruto had noticed Sai's voice now had a sadness in it. "We lived a few hours away from each other, so we'd email, write letters, webcam. Visit during school breaks. But he died in a hit and run when I was eleven."

No wonder he sounded so sad talking about him. Naruto leaned back against Sai, trying to offer his comfort. "I'm sorry," he said, knowing it really was a cliche thing to say in a moment like this.

Sai had leaned his head back so that it was resting on Naruto's. "Don't be. I was given the chance to have known him, and for that I am grateful."

Naruto's phone started going off, and he plucked it out of his pocket to see that Sasuke was calling him. Slightly curious and confused, he denied the call so his phone would shut up. His text alert went off a minute later.

Sasuke: Just wanted to know if you wanted to do anything. I'm bored, Itachi's driving me crazy.

The damn boy was bipolar. Sai twisted his body a bit to look at Naruto as he slid the phone back in his pocket. "Important?"

"Nah."

Naruto smiled, and felt Sai's fingers in his own, and squeezed. He didn't try to disentangle them. "I'm reminded of this one time Jiraiya and I did something similar. I was twelve, and he was wanting to spend the day at a beach and have a picnic. Turned out it was a nude beach. He swore up and down this woman was eyeing him a few yards away so he tried hitting on her, and she dragged him down to the water and shoved him in it." He always tried and failed to forget the memory of having seen his guardian in the nude.

Sai was laughing, Naruto grinning, feeling at peace. After the past few days with Sasuke and Sasuke's rejection and the talk with Jiraiya about his parents, it was a nice feeling to have. And it turned out Sai was pretty fun to be with when he wasn't being weird and shouting about penises.

The pale boy had hopped down, grabbing up their empty food containers. "How about you and I go to the arcade?" Naruto perked up at the thought of air hockey.

"Hell yeah! I'll kick your ass!" Sai smirked at the blond's foolishness.

And foolishness it was, to Naruto's frustration. Out of fifteen games played between the two, Sai had won nine of them. A small crowd had gathered around them, interested in the two boys' intense air hockey competition. Each game took a while to finish, and by the time the fifteen games were played and others were showing interest in wanting to play, his arm was killing him.

"You're not bad at all," Sai smirked, giving the table to another couple.

"Still not good enough," Naruto muttered, though he felt himself grinning like an idiot as he tried to massage his arm. They were in the parking lot again, taking their time walking back to Sai's car. "I had a good time today, though."

"A better time than what you were expecting. I know a part of you dreaded seeing me." No matter what, Sai was always going to have his blunt tendencies. Naruto flinched, knowing it was true.

"I'm sorry. You understand though, right? I go my whole life thinking I'm just simply straight, and then someone I just met brings up the fact that I may not be. It kind of shook my world, thinking back and realizing he may be right, especially when I asked my other friends and they noticed it too. It just took some time getting my head around."

Sai nodded, smiling still. "I understand that. Things turned out fine, I think, it was a fun date."

"It was a really fun date. I should thank you, I guess. For, you know, opening my eyes. I guess."

The other boy snorted. "You're... welcome? I'm just happy I got to you first."

Naruto stopped, confused, leaning his arms against the car and looking at Sai on the other side. "Got to me first? As opposed to who? Sakura turned me down, surely you weren't worried about her."

Now Sai just looked at Naruto as if he was missing something obvious, then looked amused. "Before Sasuke."

Silence. Then Naruto laughed. And laughed some more. He was doubled up, arms wrapped around his stomach, unable to stop laughing. He was starting to worry if he was going to laugh up a lung, but finally it subsided, and he was able to straighten up while wiping away the laughter-induced tears.

"That was funny. Obviously. Sasuke doesn't even want to be friends, much less more than that."

Sai just kept looking at him, as if warring with himself on whether to say something or not. He shook his head, shrugged, and opened his door. "Fine by me," he said before sliding in. Naruto chuckled a little bit more before joining his friend in the car.

Halfway back to Naruto's apartment, Sai broke the silence once more. "Since I got to you first," he said jokingly now, "would you be against being my boyfriend?"

He was silent for a long while, all traces of mirth gone, and he stared at the driver. He liked kissing him. He had a great time today, and he was enjoyable to talk to in general. He didn't have much experience with relationships in general, but he was sure Sai could easily be more than a friend.

"Yes," he answered as the car slid into a parking space outside his building.

Sai's face closed off and his lips puckered a bit, and Naruto realized his mistake. "No, I mean... gah. I'll try out this boyfriends thing. Just... I want to take it slow."

His face had gone from upset to ecstatic instantly, and Naruto felt awkward when all he did was get smiled at. "Sai?" The boy in question didn't say anything, just leaned over the console and kissed him gently for a few seconds.

"I'll see you tomorrow, boyfriend."

Naruto snorted at the silly, teasing look on Sai's face and exited from the car, being sure he grabbed his backpack before he closed the door. He gave Sai one last wave before he went into his apartment.

He was confused again when he got to his floor and saw Sasuke leaning against the wall by his door. "Uh... hi?" Was something wrong with the Uchiha or something?

Sasuke greeted him with a customary glare. No, things were normal on that front. "Where were you?"

"Out with Sai."

"Why?"

Naruto was gobsmacked. He stood there staring at the raven for a while, gaping at him. "Because he's part of my group of friends? Because I agreed to go on a date? It's not like I promised to hang out with you today or something, so what's the problem here?"

Along with the glare, Sasuke's mouth was twisted like he was just force-fed something sour. "No problem. You and Sai dating. Cute." Naruto feared he was about to drown in the sarcasm.

"If that's all, I'll be going in my apartment and doing homework now."

Sasuke said nothing. Not even a 'hn.' Just straightened up from the wall and brushed past Naruto and left. Naruto sighed and banged his head against his door, wondering why he got so easily stressed by the raven.

* * *

**I know some of you are frustrated by the SaiNaru. And I normally won't do this, I feel it spoils the fun in any story, but I'll go ahead and tell you it doesn't last long, and nothing explicit happens between them in any form. In fact, the break-up happens in chapter 13. But along with the fact that I am a fan of Sai in the series, this (short) relationship will serve a small purpose for the main pairing.**

**Hope you enjoyed, don't forget to review! Luvs 'em, they're invigorating. **


	10. Sleepover

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.**

**A/N: It feels like ages since I've updated, instead of a few days. I also feel guilty. Time to get back on track! :3 Here's the first double digit chapter, chapter 10!**

*****  
Chapter 10: Sleepover**

Naruto stood outside Jiraiya's apartment door on the third floor. It was Friday morning, and he had gotten up and ready for school earlier just for this purpose. But he was scared; he had no clue how his guardian was going to react about Sai. Still, he'd rather the pervert hear it first thing from him instead of the school rumor mill. Or, knowing Sai, shouted from a window, along with some question about Naruto's penis size.

Finally he reached up and knocked on the door. Sure, he lived here for years, and sure, he had a key to the apartment, but knowing Jiraiya, it was likely he'd walk in on an orgy or something. Something he _didn't_ want to see his godfather doing. Ugh. The door opened and the older white-haired man looked down on him with surprise. Fair enough, Naruto rarely visited after he moved to the apartment below.

"Is this good news or bad news?" he asked. Naruto grinned as he let himself in.

"What? I can't just randomly visit the man who raised me?"

"Not for no reason," he snorted good-naturedly. "No one's hurt, right?"

"Nah." Naruto went to the kitchen and raised himself to a sitting position on the counter, swinging his legs against the cabinets idly. "Something happened last night but I'm not sure how you're going to react," he admitted after a while.

"Are you happy?"

Naruto thought for a while. He supposed he was, yes. The thing with Sasuke last night still left a sour and very confused taste in his mouth, though. "Yeah."

"Then whatever the news is, I'll be happy, too."

"I'm bisexual, I've discovered recently. And I'm dating Sai." His guardian snorted in amusement again, and Naruto looked up to see him rolling his eyes.

"Tell me something I don't know, kid. Well, the bi part, the Sai part is a surprise I'll admit. Weird kid, but if he respects you, then fine."

"_What_?!" Naruto gaped. "How does everyone know that I'm bi _except me_?" He flushed at the laughter that came after his exasperation.

"It's probably just an unconscious thing on your part, Naruto. Our society can still be pretty iffy at the subject of homosexuality, so I guess you just... I don't know, repressed that part of yourself out of fear of how the people closest to you would react. Shit, do I look like a psychologist?"

The blond smirked. "If anyone had you for their psychologist, they'd run out screaming."

Jiraiya placed a hand over his heart, feigning pain. "You're too kind to me, kid!" The young man snickered and looked around the apartment. He hopped down, going over to the coffee table in the living room where there were papers all spread out.

"What are these?" he asked curiously. He reached for one and Jiraiya raced over, trying to gather them all up, but he had snagged one. "Oh my god, why do you have these?! My English teacher reads this all the time!" His face scrunched up.

"He does?" The pervert's face lit up. "Er, I mean, really now? Interesting. Hm."

The blond's eyes scanned the manuscript, noticing it was a different Icha Icha title. "You write these? You didn't tell me you published stuff!"

"How do I tell my young innocent charge that his godfather slash guardian writes erotica? But seriously, Kakashi reads my book?"

"All the damn time. I'm pretty sure he's reread it about ten times by now. Are you famous?"

Jiraiya winked. "I'm getting there, kid. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to head to school early and have a nice chat with your teacher. Just feedback and stuff. Do you need a condom or anything?"

Naruto spluttered. "A... a _condom_? For wh—oh god no! No!" The very thought of Sai and Naruto and sex together had him feeling nauseous. Kissing was just fine, thank you very much! With that horrible image seared into his brain, he ran out of the apartment.

* * *

Naruto and Kiba strolled into English class right as the bell rang. As usual. He flashed a grin at Gaara and Shikamaru, who nodded and half heartedly raised a hand, respectively. Sakura fluttered her fingers in greeting as he took his usual seat by Sasuke, who was stubbornly looking at the wall to his right.

"Hi Sasuke!" Nothing. "Sasuke!" Nothing. Damn it, what was wrong with the boy? He didn't do anything! "Sassuukkkee," he drawled, reaching over to poke the boy's cheek. Dark eyes flicked around to meet his, and he thought Sasuke was going to bite his finger off for a moment.

"Hi, idiot." The blond grinned. Empty insults, that was a good sign.

"Morning, shithead! Feeling better?"

"Hn." He got distracted by his phone and pulled it out of pocket to read and respond to a text.

Naruto spent a few moments staring at his friends sitting around him, thinking about when he should bring up the thing with Sai. He hoped they wouldn't react like Sasuke did. Lunch would be good, since Sai would be there as well. A part of him didn't want to talk about Sai in front of Sasuke, though. He felt... how did he feel? Embarrassed? Guilty? That made no sense.

His own phone vibrated in his pocket and he saw it was a text from an unknown number. He opened it up and read:

Unknown: I made plans for you and your friends to stay over tonight.

Uh, what? He texted back asking for the texter's identity, figuring it was just a wrong number. A few seconds later, his phone went off again.

Unknown: Itachi Uchiha, I forgot you wouldn't know my number.

Oh. Well, that was a tad creepy. He added the number to his address book and wondered if Sasuke knew his big brother was planning on kidnapping them all to spend the night. Looking over, he saw that the raven was glaring down at his phone like it had reached out and slapped him across the face.

"Uh, Sasuke," he called over, and their eyes met, one pair of them still glaring. "Did your brother text you about his... plans?"

"Yes, the stupid meddling ass," he spat out, and their exchange had drawn the attention of his other three friends.

"What's up?" Kiba asked warily. Sasuke was too busy trying to strangle his phone, so Naruto had to answer.

"All of us are spending the night at Sasuke's tonight. His brother's plan," he explained. Kiba looked excited, which honestly is how Naruto felt as well. Shikamaru and Gaara looked like they didn't care one way or another but nodded all the same. Sakura watched on in fascination.

"I'll be there after I get off work, which will be around seven!" Kiba said, and Sasuke grumbled. He was ignored.

* * *

Naruto sat at the lunch table across from Sai, his hands tucked under his thighs. He was wondering about Sasuke, who had muttered something about going to the library before heading off. Sai's voice snapped him out of his reverie.

"Have you told them yet?"

He smiled at his new boyfriend, who was looking at him with a soft smirk. "No, I was waiting until lunch, so you'd be here." The boy looked pleased at that, and they lapsed back into silence.

"Chouji took the last french fry," Kiba whined as he sat down. "He had _two_ of them! How is that fair?" Shikamaru and Gaara sat down afterwards, the redhead slowly eating one of his french fries as he stared at Kiba. Naruto stomped down the urge to laugh at Kiba's pouting look.

"I have something to tell you guys!" Naruto blurted out, and Sai looked up expectantly, as did the others, though they looked more surprised.

"Should you wait for Sasuke?" Sai asked, eyes narrowed. Naruto thought back on Sai saying he thought there was something between the two, and sighed.

"No, he's in the library, probably whining to his brother, and already knows. We're all spending the night at his place tonight, by the way." Sai looked absolutely thrilled. Except not. "Anyway!" he hurried on, looking away from his boyfriend, "uh. Sai and I are dating now."

Kiba was the only one who showed any excitement, and patted him on the shoulder in congratulations. Gaara and Shikamaru didn't look surprised; he really needed some more vocal friends. Sai was wearing a wide, forced-looking smile, and Naruto wondered how tonight was going to go.

* * *

Jiraiya was standing by his desk shuffling through the stack of papers he had just received. An alcohol basket sat on his desk, and Naruto had the sneaking suspicion that it was from Kakashi. His favorite author was a coworker, after all. He wondered if his godfather was now going to be stalked.

"Alright," the teacher finally said, tossing the stack of papers on his desk. "Everyone handed one in, that's awesome. But Hinata, dear, I don't think your partner was serious when he said he was raised by wolves in a cave." Hinata blushed in embarrassed and gave Kiba a stern look. The dog boy only grinned.

"So now I can announce what I have planned for you idiots next week. On Wednesday we'll be into Konoha Forest on a hiking trip!" The class' response didn't match his enthusiasm. "Each group I'll give a destination, and it's up to you two to get there."

"This sounds dangerous," Shikamaru pointed out. "And like it has nothing to do with Health."

"Each group will also get a few flares and a megaphone. There will be cell service out there, and you'll also be getting my number. I've informed the teachers and your sexy Principal, and the homework for Wednesday will be waved off." Now the class was sounding excited. Naruto glanced over at Sasuke, who was already looking at him, eyebrows raised.

"This has nothing to do with Health," Shikamaru said again, sounding really frustrated now. Shikamaru and hiking did not belong together.

"Class dismissed!"

* * *

Naruto was sitting on a kitchen stool in the Uchiha household, watching Itachi chop vegetables as Sasuke sat doing whatever in his room. "Do you have more of those deli roll things? Those were awesome."

Itachi snorted as he moved about. "I'm glad you liked them. Yes, I can make some more after the others get here." Naruto _was _there a bit early; the others agreed to wait for Kiba to get off work at seven, and it was thirty minutes until that time.

"How are you and my little brother getting along?" he asked curiously. The blond didn't answer for a while, mulling it over.

"I don't know. Sometimes good, sometimes he just gets really upset and hateful, like last night."

"Last night? I know he went over to hang out, but ignored me when he stormed back in the house later on."

Naruto felt embarrassed. "That's the thing, we didn't hang out last night. I was with Sai all day and I get back to my apartment to see Sasuke waiting there, and he gets all sarcastic and leaves. I didn't know he was over there!"

Itachi had turned around to face the blond, and he squirmed in his seat as the older Uchiha studied him. "Interesting," he replied. "He hardly talks to me, so I get my information from you. What'd he do today?"

"Nothing, really. He was kind of standoffish at first and he skipped lunch, which was odd. I just figured he was calling you."

"I wasn't called."

"Oh." Silence followed, and Naruto scratched behind his ear, wondering what Sasuke was up to at lunch, then. "Did you know about the hiking trip Wednesday? We're partners for that."

"He mentioned that, but only because I had to sign some papers for it." Naruto hadn't gotten any papers, but that was probably because the teacher was his guardian. Naruto continued to watch in silence as Itachi moved about the kitchen and two large homemade pizzas were made. The smell made him realize how hungry he was.

The others finally arrived and Sasuke appeared from his room. Sai put his arm around Naruto's waist and leaned over to place a kiss on his temple. Sasuke grabbed one of the pizzas, making sure Itachi took what he wanted. "We can watch a movie in my room."

"Why not the living room?" Kiba asked, eyes focused on the wide comfy-looking area through the doorway.

"TV in my room is bigger, and Itachi won't bug me." They found it hard to believe the nice older handsome man would be a nuisance, but at looking over to see his smirk, they changed their mind and grabbed some pizza, following the raven to his room.

Naruto immediately threw himself on the large bed, being sure his pizza didn't fly off his plate. "Off," Sasuke commanded, sitting down on his bed. Naruto stuck his lip out.

"No! Think of it as you saying sorry for breaking my window."

"Me being sorry for breaking your window is me paying for the window, idiot."

"That's your brother."

"Same difference."

"It is not, asshole!"

"Is too!"

Kiba ignored the bantering while he looked through the stack of blu-rays, Sai on the floor leaning against the bed between Gaara and Shikamaru. Naruto was sidetracked as Kiba finally found a movie and put started it up, and Sasuke stopped arguing with him to get off his bed.

"The new Sweeney Todd, sweet!" Naruto said, shoving some pizza in his mouth. Sasuke leaned against his wall and nibbled on some himself, eyes focused on the large screen in his room. Naruto was jealous; even when choosing to live in this modest house, their richness still showed. One only had to look at Sasuke's car.

An hour into the movie, Itachi had come in with deli rolls, much to Naruto's delight. The older Uchiha had tried settling in with the group to watch the movie with them but grabbed the empty plates and left after Sasuke started beating him with a pillow. Naruto didn't care either way, he just yelled his gratitude after the departing Uchiha while shoving the deli rolls in his mouth.

After Sweeney Todd ended, Kiba put in The Grudge. Naruto wrapped Sasuke's blankets around himself and curled up against the wall, already knowing he was going to get terrified. As the movie wore on, he was pressed against Sasuke's side. The raven scoffed and reached around Naruto's body to give him a mocking pat on his shoulder, but his arm didn't move afterwards.

A little while later, Naruto noticed Sai lean forward a bit to look at the bed behind him. He gave his boyfriend a sleepy smile. Sai looked annoyed and turned back around. What was that about? He felt movement on his arm, and he remembered Sasuke's arm was around him. Sai was probably annoyed about that, it clicked. He didn't feel like tossing the arm off, though, especially since the ex-actor wasn't being pissy.

He curled up further into the raven's body, completely content as the movie wore on. It was comforting, which he was happy about, since he didn't handle horror movies well. The presence next to him was helping with that.

Naruto found his eyes closing and his head drooping onto something warm and comfortable. Sasuke's shoulder, perhaps? He really didn't want to move. He felt something soothingly run through his hair, which did nothing to help his oncoming slumber. So he gave into it.

* * *

**Oh god the fluff! It'll still be a few chapters before anything substantial (romance-wise) happens between the two. And next chapter, the hiking trip! After that the time will speed up a bit. Hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to review if you can! :3 I also have a new SasuNaru Supernatural fic out, titled 'Believe,' so I'll be doing these three now.**


	11. Just Is

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.**

**A/N: It's been a looooong time (and now I'm thinking of Portal). Like, I'm-a-horrible-person-but-at-least-it-wasn't-a-few -years-like-last-time long! It wasn't out of disinterest, I actually tried picking it back up a few times, but with work, reading, and my original novel that I started in April, time is very squished. Doing something original is harder than I thought. With fanfiction, writing it seems to go so much more quickly. I can do 6-8k words a day, and I was. With my original novel...I don't know. Maybe it's because it's my baby made out of tears and sweat and stress after marinating in my head for two years, who knows. Anyway, on to the long awaited hiking trip! And thank god for outlines!**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Just Is**

Naruto knew he was in trouble the moment he was shaken roughly awake.. He felt something soft and warm slide off his shoulder and to the bed next to him, taking its comforting presence with it. His eyes snapped open in confusion to see Sai hovering over the bed. Glowering was more correct. He couldn't quite understand why until he registered the fact that someone was cuddled up against his back. Looking at Sai's face and remembering who he was sitting next to on the bed last night, he didn't need to guess who it was.

Without a word, Sai stood up and marched out of the room, his pack with the few things he brought tossed over a shoulder. "Wait!" Naruto hissed. He jumped out of bed, trying not to wake Sasuke, and ran after Sai. He had to jump over Gaara's sleeping form, who was hugging his own shoe. "Sai!" he whispered again, only to be ignored once more.

His boyfriend must have sprinted through the house, since Sai's car was pulling out of the driveway by the time he got to the kitchen. Itachi was sitting at the table, sipping coffee while reading the newspaper, for all the world looking like the average suburban father. He raised an eyebrow when Naruto rushed into the room looking frantic.

"Spat?" he asked, mouth twitching in amusement.

"It's nothing, we'll talk later after he cools off and it'll be fine. I fell asleep in Sasuke's bed while watching the movie last night."

Itachi took a sip from his mug. "That doesn't sound like a big deal."

"Sasuke fell asleep on the bed, too. Apparently Sasuke cuddles in his sleep, which Sai woke up and did not like." He helped himself to fresh glazed doughnut from the box Itachi had ready on the counter for the boys before collapsing in a chair across from Itachi.

"Ah, that is bad then," Sasuke's brother agreed.

"I know! I'll call in a bit, it'll be sorted out."

"No, I meant it's bad that you found out Sasuke cuddles in his sleep. When he knows that you know, your life will be forfeit."

"I'll give him a doughnut, he'll be okay then." Itachi smirked. Minutes ticked by, and no other movement came from Sasuke's room. Eventually Naruto couldn't take it and grabbed his phone, pressing on Sai's contact number. It didn't go immediately to voicemail, thankfully.

The third ring Sai picked up. He didn't say anything at all, waiting for Naruto to say the first thing. Going by the background noise, he was still in the car. He got up from the table and stepped outside for more privacy.

"I'm sorry, Sai. I fell asleep during the movie, and I had no clue what kind of position I was in. I swear."

He heard his boyfriend heave a sigh on the other end. "You know how feel about the relationship between you and Sasuke."

"I know, and it isn't like that! I'm not sure you can even call us friends, so please believe me when I say we don't have feelings like that for each other."

Sai sighed again, this time gentler, like he was giving in. "I know," he almost whispered. "Just waking up and seeing you two like that... I just snapped."

"As long as we're okay, man."

"We're okay, Naruto." He could practically hear the smile in Sai's voice. Naruto laughed.

"Great. I'm going to get my things and get back to my apartment. So I'll talk to you later, and mwah!"

It was Sai's turn to laugh. "Did you just try to kiss me over the phone?"

"No, shut up!"

* * *

Naruto didn't see Sasuke for the rest of that weekend after he left, aside from a few casual texts and middle fingers from their respective bedroom windows. Sunday evening found him and Sai watching a movie at Sai's place, though Naruto didn't stay the night. Naruto found out from Kiba that he and Hinata had a successful dinner date at an Italian place, and that he managed to kiss her on the cheek.

Monday found the group back in school, with Sasuke acting like the usual Sasuke. Naruto wondered if he even knew about the awkward sleeping scenario they were in the other night, but didn't want to inform him by asking. Or taunting him with the fact that he cuddled.

Tuesday was much the same as Monday, while Wednesday morning Naruto found himself in Sasuke's car heading to Konoha Forest Park instead of school. He found himself excited, but only received bemused grunts from the raven when he tried asking if he was excited as well. "It's better than school," Sasuke finally admitted, turning his radio on. "Still nothing to be excited about. It's hiking."

"Are you excited by anything?" Naruto teased. It was likely true that nothing excited Sasuke, though.

"Hn," he responded. "Graduating. Getting out of here once more." Naruto's good mood immediately melted away and it was his turn to grunt, drawing a raised eyebrow look from Sasuke.

"Just drive, asshole," the blond muttered. That was met with an eyeroll and compliance.

The drive took about twenty minutes. It felt like longer to Naruto, who was using the time to stew in bitter thoughts about their group breaking up after graduation with him being stuck with Sai. Well, wait, he shouldn't say stuck. As long as he got that possessive thing under control. Eventually they arrived at Konoha Forest Park and slid into one of the parking spaces in the large parking lot. Others were already there, with Jiraiya reading one of his manuscripts while leaning against his car.

Naruto slid out of the car, causing some jealous stares from his classmates. He was confused until he remembered Sasuke's super fancy expensive car, which he apparently had grown used to. He located his little group and joined them, followed slowly by Sasuke.

"Who else are we waiting for?" he asked.

"Hinata," Kiba said wistfully. Naruto felt a surge of warmth for his friend, especially since he was sure things were looking up on that front.

"And Lee," Shikamaru added. Gaara's forehead wrinkled a little, and if he had eyebrows he was sure they would be raised right now.

Once the last two had arrived-with Lee sprinting to the class and doing jumping jacks once he reached them-Jiraiya put away the manuscript and started handing each pair a paper. "This paper contains my cell number and the location where each of you are going. The fun of today is to reach this destination with your partner as fast as you can, take a picture by following the directions, and sending that picture to me."

"What incentive do we have to do this?" Shikamaru mumbled. Some of the others nodded in agreement, looking less than thrilled at today's activity.

"Prizes! Third place gets an entire free day of school off with all assignments for that day fully completed except for tests." Already the class was getting more enthused. "Second place is a free day and movie tickets to a movie of your choice. First place is a copy of my newest Icha Icha book!" The excitement died down. Jiraiya's face fell. "Or a free day, movie tickets, and fifty dollars each." The class was happy again, leaving Jiraiya to sigh.

Naruto was handed the paper for the hike, and Sasuke leaned over his shoulder to read it. His long bangs brushed Naruto's ear, causing him to squirm slightly. "The hot springs," Sasuke read out loud, ignoring Naruto's fidgeting. "And once we get there one of us has to take a picture while the other..." Sasuke got a weird look on his face and Naruto choked on air before finishing the sentence.

"The other rubs his nipples with the hot spring in the background. Jiraiya, dude, what the fuck?" he called over. "Is this your idea of a joke?"

"Yep!" Naruto opened his mouth before being cut off. "But you still have to do it!" He closed his mouth. "In this box are flares. Each person grab one flare each, and this other box has the megaphone you'll share with your partner. Grab a map from this pile as well. Now get out of my sight, I want to read."

Sighing, Sasuke grabbed the two flares while Naruto carried the megaphone and map. Looking at it, he saw the hot spring was on the other side of the park, about two miles away. They made their way to the gate with the rest of the class, and saw Kiba muttering under his breath while Hinata blushed.

"What's up?" Naruto asked, leading Kiba to roll his eyes.

"We have to go to the petting zoo and one of us has to record the other doing Gagnam Style." Naruto was thankful he wasn't drinking something, since he would have likely choked on it from his sudden fit of laughter.

"Better than mine!" He showed Kiba his paper, who then proceeded to have his own bout of laughter.

"Good luck man. I doubt you'll get Sasuke to do that." The raven grunted in agreement. On the other side of the Park entrance now, the two pairs stopped to look around at the park around them. "We have to head in this direction now. See ya on the other side, man." Naruto waved in parting and him and Sasuke went in the opposite direction down a path, along with Lee and Sakura.

Lee was jumping up and down while hugging Sakura for the side, who was attempting to maintain her footing and looking put out. She saw Naruto and a look of relief washed over her face, then saw Sasuke and looked positively giddy. Naruto frowned at the look she gave Sasuke. Maybe he wasn't as over Sakura as he thought, then.

The girl released herself from Lee's grasp and jogged ahead towards them. "Hi Naruto. Hi Sasuke!" She blushed, but Sasuke completely ignored the greeting. She cleared her throat. "Where are you guys going? We have to go...," she checked the paper again, "the Leaf Shack."

"That will be annoying," Naruto sympathized. "There are dozens of food vendors over there all bunched up. We have to go the hot spring."

"At least your's is easier to find," she whined. That turned into a frustrated groan when Lee appeared and looped his arm around her's. Naruto had to smother a grin.

"What a youthful outing!" the green-clad boy said passionately, his remaining fist raised in the air. "I wish you luck; Sakura and I are aiming for those movie tickets!" Naruto had the idea that Lee and Sakura had two completely different things in mind with those tickets. With that said, Lee grabbed hold of Sakura's wrist, who squeaked in surprise, and he ran off, dragging Sakura behind him.

"Fifty bucks in my wallet would be nice," he told Sasuke. His partner grunted, and the blond felt a twinge of annoyance. "Are you going to be doing that all day?"

"As long as you're in the near vicinity and drilling into my ears with that stupid voice."

"What got stuck up your ass?" Naruto snorted. Sasuke smirked but said nothing. "Do you know you cuddle in your sleep? Pretty adorable."

Sasuke reached over and gave him a light punch in the arm. Rubbing the spot, Naruto laughed at Sasuke's petulant look. "If you moved off my bed like I told you to, Sai wouldn't have stormed out."

Naruto's laughter died off. "Sai has some weird concerns when it comes to you. Things are fine now, though."

The raven rolled his eyes. "Concerns?"

"I guess he thinks we're going to jump in bed together or something." Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "You know what I mean!"

Sasuke snickered. "Tell Sai that I think he's brain damaged for being your boyfriend in the first place and if I touched you, it would be to deliver pain."

"Duly noted," Naruto said sarcastically. Their eyes met and they chuckled together. They walked for a few minutes before Naruto glanced back over to Sasuke. "By any chance do you really want to win? Because I'm fine with the pace we're doing and I'm betting some of our classmates are sprinting to their marks."

His companion shrugged carelessly. "Not really. I am surprised you aren't trying for the free day off from school, though."

"Eh, it is the most tempting," he admitted. "Not enough to try at this thing, though." Sasuke grunted, and Naruto took it as agreement.

It was an hour before they came to the wooden gate that signaled the hot spring was just ahead. They passed a very bored looking employee on the way in, who barely acknowledged them as they passed.

"I'm guessing you'll be the nipple rubber?" Naruto asked. Sasuke gave him a flat stare that clearly said over his dead body. The blond snickered and stripped his shirt and shorts so that he was left in his boxers.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke said, looking at him oddly before looking at his phone to pull up the camera.

"Like hell am I going to be at a hot spring and not actually use it." Sasuke wordlessly raised his phone and Naruto took that as his cue to place his hands over his nipples. Though he didn't rub them-it was a picture after all, not recorded like Kiba's-he did attempt a sultry look by licking his lower lip as the camera flashed.

"You're an idiot," Sasuke muttered, though Naruto thought he saw a hint of a blush there. Perhaps it was just the sun or the heat of the springs. "Alright, sent the picture at 9:33am." He sat himself down on one of the chairs on the side while Naruto submerged himself in the spring with a hiss of content.

Two hours went by like that. Naruto dozed in the spring, content that no one else was here, while Sasuke surfed the web for movie news and to make sure the press kept thinking he was abroad. Just before noon both of their phones went off at once with their text alert. Naruto looked at Sasuke curiously.

"We're to make our way back to the parking lot." Naruto groaned, not wanting to leave his precious hot spring. Naruto dressed and the two boys made their way back to the parking lot in better time to find the class and Jiraiya gathered around outside the gate.

"About time," Jiraiya mock complained. "I should have known not to send Naruto the hot spring."

"Oh please, old man, you enjoyed the time to write more porn."

"That I did, son." Most of the class snorted or rolled their eyes in disgust. "Feel free to spend the day however you wish after you leave here. Put the maps back in the pile and the megaphones and flares back in the boxes. And Shikamaru, if we ever do this again don't shoot off your flare just because you're too lazy to walk back. Emergencies only." Ino looked embarrassed for her partner.

"This had nothing to do with health," he pressed. He was ignored once again, and honestly most of the class didn't seem to care. Naruto knew for sure he was content with how the day went.

"Third place goes to Naruto and Sasuke. The free day off, valid for the rest of this school year." Naruto blinked in surprise. They weren't even trying to get in the top three. "Second place is Kiba and Hinata. Free day and two movie tickets of your choice." Kiba looked at Hinata, who blushed. "First place, oh this isn't a surprise. Lee and Sakura. Free day, movie tickets, and fifty dollars each."

Lee leapt up, shouting, "I feel the power of my youth in my veins!" while Sakura gave a giddy shriek and hugged him in thanks. "My dearest Sakura, we must go to the movie together to celebrate!" That led to her blushing, and snickers passed through the classmates.

The group dispersed, Jiraiya sent Naruto a wink as he and Sasuke passed the teacher on the way to the raven's richmobile. "That was actually pretty fun," Naruto said as they settled into the car seats and Sasuke started the car.

"It was a good way to spend a day," Sasuke admitted, pulling out of their space. "And we got the free days off anyway."

"I won't forget to use mine," Naruto said, stretching his arms and legs as much as he could. He watched the driver as he did so, who for once didn't look stuffy or angry. He just looked peaceful. "I had fun with you." Sasuke gave him an amused look, causing Naruto to quickly stick his tongue out in defense. "Besides, you know, you being an asshole."

"And despite you being a completely loud idiot, you aren't that bad to hang around with." The way he said it, it sounded like he meant any day, not just today. He felt his heart lift in happiness as he turned to look out his window, watching Konoha pass by them. He didn't feel worried anymore about their friendship. Like anyone else, they'd have their bad patches, but their friendship wouldn't be something that needed to be asked about or clarified, even if Sasuke left Konoha again. He glanced at Sasuke one more time, wondering if he really saw a small smile gracing the raven's mouth. Their friendship just was.

* * *

**Alright, here's the long overdue chapter 11! Next chapter is a time jump to Halloween, and hopefully you won't have to wait until the real life Halloween to get it! ;D I kid. I'm aiming to update the three fics maybe once a week, once every two weeks at the worst. Don't forget to R/R, feel free to yell at me for my long update.**


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